>>> another question: i need much space for a fileserver and i want to
>>> RAID1 this. i'm thinking of two big IDE HDs and an additional (PCI
>>> based) controller to get ATA/133 or so. IIRC all the supported 
>>> devices
>>> should run (read: if they do not connect/provide the boot device), 
>>> but
>>> are there IDE controllers out there which support booting from 
>>> attached
>>> HDs on U5/U10 machines?
>> Sort of. Somewhere in the sparc64 section on netbsd.org is a short 
>> article about how to make (some) PCI IDE cards work in Suns ( some OF 
>> hack was required ) but I have no idea about performance or which IDE 
>> controllers are supposed to work at all, I seem to remember some 
>> didn't.
>
> 	Other option would be to put in a small IDE disk on the internal
> 	controller to hold the bootblocks and kernel, and the use the
> 	standard RAID1 autoconfig to get the root partition and everything
> 	else on the two big disks on the fast controller.

unfortunately, this won't bring the advantages of a RAID1 -- as the 
boot device is a SPOF then. (no, i don't plan to reboot the machine 
regurlarly, but IMHO it's mandatory that if i have a RAID1 that it 
covers all boot-related issues, too.)

however, it'd be possible to set up a machine in the way you intended 
_plus_ booting from a USB memory stick (no movable parts, should be far 
more reliable than a HD then)... but sparc64 surely lacks support to 
boot from USB stick :(

cheers,

-- 
Timo Schoeler | http://macfinity.net/~tis | timo.schoeler@macfinity.net
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