Help installing Centos onto raid 6 array

[Rachel1982]

Hi, let me start by saying i have never attempted to install any version of linux before. I have a brand new dual xeon server with x8 147gb SAS drives with an LSI raid card, set up as raid 6 array. I want to isntall centos 5.6 but no idea where to start. I am kind of familiar (in theory) with iso files but firstly not sure where to download centos 5.6 and which version i need. Also if it is possible to download to a USB stick and install from there. I can access server bios so could change to boot from usb stick if its possible. From there i could really do with step by step instructions on how to install onto the raid array. After reading through some of the forum the installation onto a single disk would be prompted with questions (i guess like installing windows which i have done) but im trying to get info on what i would need to input when i get to these stages. Any help would be much appreciated! thanks

[atreyu]

Head over to www.centos.org - The Community ENTerprise Operating System, then go to Downloads > Mirrors, then click on Mirror List. Now look for a mirror in your region and select the appropriate http/ftp link on the right-hand side of the page. That will take you to the CentOS mirror (e.g., http://mirrors.kernel.org/centos/), where you'll find ISO images and other CentOS software.

Now click on the directory for your desired version (5.6), then click the isos directory. Then click the dir pertaining to your arch (i386/x64_64).

Now you should see a list of ISO (and other) files. The DVD image is called something like "CentOS-5.6-i386-bin-DVD.iso".

It is also a good idea to grab the checksum file (md5sum.txt) and compare it to the output of:

md5sum CentOS-5.6-i386-bin-DVD.iso

once you've downloaded the ISO image.

For USB-based installation, you could try this project.

As your RAID array is hardware-based (vs software-based), installation is pretty straight-forward. Your RAID array should be presented as a single, large hard drive (e.g., /dev/sda) during the installer. You will need to partition it into at least one or two separate partitions, (i.e., "/", "/boot"). See this installation guide for more general details regarding the installation of CentOS.

[Rachel1982]

thank you for your reply! i cannot seem to get the installation guide link to work, it points to an intel video :S also regarding partitions, i am guessing one partition is for the OS and the other is left for all the data, if so roughly what size do i need to set these at? it might be that i will have to pay a linux consultant to guide me through all this as i now have x8 servers to install on, do you have any recommendations of any consultants who for a small fee can either guide via telephone support or remotely do the install via KVM/remote media?

[atreyu]

The advice on partitioning varies greatly, but for me, I'd assign the OS partition roughly 10 or 20GB, and leave the rest for data.

That link works fine for me...try typing it in:

http://www.centos.org/docs/5/html/5.2/Installation_Guide/

I'd be happy to help you (just keep posting here), but armed with the Guide above and Google, you should be able to get very far, if not all the way, yourself!