Using Knoppix and QEMU for Software RAID

[ewangr]

I know, this is borderline, but figure this is the group of folks who might know. I do a lot of audio and video stuff for myself and my family. I also have a rather unusual networking setup. Long story short, when I try to run Linux as my primary OS, I usually end up reinstalling Windows after a couple weeks because there are still holes in what I can do. That isn't the fault of Linux as much as folks who write device drivers or have video codecs that require DirectShow.

However, the big thing I really miss from Linux that keeps me trying to find a way to convert is the support for Software RAID 5.

It occured to me yesterday that perhaps the trick would be to use QEMU to run Knoppix under Windows, and then setup a RAID 5 array under it. Not to mention then having access to Linux for some other fun stuff.

I'm not sure if that's even possible, and if it is, how much trouble I would have moving files around to and from the RAID array if it's setup that way. So I'm wondering if anyone on here has ever tried this?

TIA,
Ewan

[ewangr]

One other idea I've had (and y'all can tell me how much I'm showing my lack of knowledge in this area) is to try recompiling the mdadm and other tools using cygwin. But I assume that this is an idea that's been floated before and didn't work since I haven't seen any signs of this having been done before.

Just to fill y'all in, here are my alternate options:

1) Convert completely to Linux
- Pros: Philosophically this is my preferred choice, and I know that RAID would work under this
- Cons: I have a DLink DWL-G520 PCI card that according to the Ndiswrapper wiki would require at least a daily reboot. I also would lose the ability to decode recordings that I transferred from my TiVO using TivoToGo which would require me to do recordings from my box - and then I couldn't record anything from our digital channels (no cable box up here)

2) Convert completely to Windows
- Pros: This is where I currently am anyway, so no effort :-)
- Cons: At the current rate of acquiring home videos (20-30 Gigs a month because my middle daughter's handicapped - and so there's a lot of stuff we tape from school and other places so she can watch them over and over again), my photos (a gig or two every month), and backing up our music and DVD collections (middle daughter is rough on disks because she doesn't understand she shouldn't be), I would need to continue to buy one 250 Gig HD every six months, and a second 250 Gig HD in that period to allow me to do a poor man's mirror of the first disk. And I'm already having to use one of my backup disks because that's still a bit expensive, and I know if I kept that up I'd soon be out of USB ports.

3) Dual boot
- Pros: Gives me the same capabilities I'm looking for by trying to get Software RAID running under windows
- Cons: Typical dual boot "fun" of having to reboot when I have to change acitivities, and so long transfers from the TiVO would reduce the time when we could view anything I had backed up on the RAID array.

FWIW,
Ewan

[ockham23]

Hi Ewan,

just like you I had been looking for a way to combine both Windows and Linux. Here is my solution:
- On my desktop computer (AMD Sempron 3100+, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB hard disk) I installed Windows XP and VMWare Workstation for Windows, a non-free program similar to Microsoft's Virtual PC. Within VMWare Workstation, I can have as many virtual Linux installs as I like, and switching between Windows and Knoppix only takes a second. VMWare offers a 30 thirty day evaluation version, so you may want to test it on your PC.
- As a backup solution, I bought an older Pentium III notebook on eBay that I set up to do a "traditional" dual boot.

Conversely, it also possible to run Windows from within VMWare Workstation for Linux, but I haven't tried it yet.

I hope you'll find my comments helpful.

[ewangr]

Based on what I've been able to find on the web (and that only on a couple hours research), it looks like the QEMU option would work at least as well (to the extent I can get it to work at all - still questionable) as the VMWare option. With the QEMU accelerator, the speed should be equivalent, and QEMU and the QEMU accelerator are free as compared to the VMWare option (which doesn't seem to offer a free version).

In either case, it still isn't clear that you can setup a workstation where the Windows and Linux sides of the house could share a RAID array. Which is why I was hoping to find someone who might have already been through this. I'm not adverse to slogging through and trying to figure it out myself if need be. But I hate to be a pioneer in a covered wagon only to find out there was already a two-lane highway built I could have used if I'd looked a bit first :D

Thanks,
Ewan

[foamrotreturns]

AFAIK, the KQEMU accelerator only works in Linux because it is a kernel module.

[ewangr]

I managed to get this working, although I had to use coLinux rather than QEMU to do this.

All the pertinent info can be found at:
http://a1.blogspot.com/2005/08/step-by-step-to-windows-raid-using.html

Hope that folks find this helpful!