[BlueOnyx:09820] Re: LVM

[Michael Stauber]

Hi Dudi,

> Is there a way to avoid LVM when installing a fresh 5107R?
> 
> I have no use for LVM here, so I'd like to avoid the extra layer.

For BlueOnyx we made LVM the default, as it allows for easier 
resizing of partitions in the long run.

A typical BlueOnyx install has six partitions, so I opted for LVM, which 
allows this. Whereas - if you don't use LVM - you can only have four primary 
partitions.

To get around this one would need to use extended partitions with logical 
volumes in them.

As it is our kickstart.cf on the CD is already pretty complex. It determines 
the number of hard disks and  how big they are. If you have one disks you get 
LVM. With two disks you get RAID1 with LVM on top. If you have four disks you 
get RAID0+1 with a pretty complex LVM on top of that.

The RAID0+1 for example is ONLY possible with LVM. 

So not using LVM would eleminate that possibility. Granted: It is a rarely 
used and underperforming option to begin with. But it was specifically 
requested.

Still: The kickstart script that either removes LVM or adds non-LVM as an 
option would be pretty complex. And it would need to be tested thoroughly 
covering all the various hardware options. 

I'm still waiting for someone to send me such a kickstart script and I'd 
happily include it on the CD.

But personally I see no benefit of not using LVM to begin with. The only case 
where it's beneficial not to have LVM is when you want to mount the disks of 
your server in another box for data rescue purposes. Which is a bit besides 
the point. Because you should have backups anyway and you can of course also 
fire up the box (which the disks are plugged into) in rescue mode off the 
BlueOnyx CD and can let the CD auto-mount the partitions. You can even do so 
with enabled network support to copy the data off the disks over the network 
to another box.

So long story short: Due to the complexity of the required kickstart script 
that supports both LVM and non-LVM in all hardware configurations this 
currently isn't an option.

-- 
With best regards

Michael Stauber