Mac Mini Server RAID1 Configuration
There have been some questions recently regarding how to configure the new Mac Mini Server for RAID 1 mirroring. Out of the box the Mac Mini is setup without RAID. You have two identical 500GB disks so RAID is possible. To make this work you’ll need another Mac computer running firewire because the device lacks a CD/DVD drive.
EDIT: Some people have asked “Why run RAID 1 mirroring when you already have a solid backup strategy?” The answer is simple: Downtime is bad and costs money … some people a lot of money! Running a RAID 1 mirror on production environments is essential to maintaining high up-time. Hard Drives can and do fail so its better to be prepared for it. Restoring files from backups and locating a replacement disk is not fun at 5AM. If a RAID mirror disk dies you can plan a time to repair it, you won’t have that option if you only have backups.
Step 1: Start the Mini in Target Mode. Press the T during start. In a few seconds the firewire logo will appear on your screen.
Step 2: Go to your second Mac. Connect the firewire cable between second Mac and Mini.
Step 3: On the second Mac start the disc utility. The two identical drives on your mini will show. Create a new Raid set (mirrored = Raid 1). Include both drives. Confirm the warning that all data on the mini will be lost.
Step 4: Make sure your second Mac has CD/ DVD sharing option installed. This is to use the super drive to install OS X Server on the mini.
Step 5: Shutdown both Macs
Step 6: Start your second Mac in target mode. Make sure the firewire cable is still connected.
Step 7: Start the Mini with the option key pressed.
Step 8: Insert the OS X Server install disc in your second Mac.
Step 9: wait till the drive logo appears om the Mini. Continue the install. Will take about an hour.
An even easier option is to purchase or borrow a USB DVD drive and just boot from that.
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Source: HT2559
Thanks for this. I had to configure one for a client using this target mode. It was very helpful.
I did run into a large problem myself though. When I was installing OSX, the installation appeared to freeze at around 15% (I had left it for almost 2 hours). After a bit of troubleshooting, unplugging the non-Mac keyboard (logitech) and mouse (microsoft) seemed to kick start it again.
Other comments on this article would be to mention that the ‘Option’ key is ‘Alt’ on non-Mac hardware. I’m a bit of a Mac noob so I had to quickly find that out.
Might also be worth linking to a guide on how to enable CD/DVD drive Sharing (although it seemed to be already configured on the second Mac that I used).
Thanks again
The external USB DVD drive is the best option! You can boot from the install DVD, then run Disk Utility to create the RAID1 set without even worrying about finding another Mac (or a Firewire cable).
I do so many of these I ended up buying a USB super drive which does make things easier.
this tuto is good, I don’t have an external DVD drive, but unfortunately no firewire cable any more…
But it’s what I was looking for.
Thank you.
Be big boys and girls and use the terminal… here is a non destructive method of mirroring:
diskutil list
diskutil appleRAID enable mirror disk0s2
diskutil appleRAID add mirror disk1s2 disk2
(Go get some coffee… this will take hours)
where disk2 is the new RAID volume you created… you’l see it if you run diskutil list again.
@->Mahdi Hedhli
I ran through the commands you recommended on a Mac Mini (OS X v10.6.5). The first two lines seemed to work fine. However, when I run the last line (diskutil appleRAID add mirror disk1s2 disk2), the system returns the following messages:
Started RAID operation on disk2 Macintosh HD2
Error -9960: Could not modify RAID
The second line you recommended clearly made a change to my disk setup. As, when I started, I had “disk0″ and “disk1″. However, after I ran the second line I now have “disk2″ showing in the diskutil list.
So, I’m halfway through the procedure and I’m stuck with “Error -9960″. Is there some non-destructive way to get around the “Error -9960″? Or, can I non-destructively undo what I did on the second line?
I’ll appreciate any assistance you can offer.
Thank you.
@->Mahdi Hedhli
I should clarify the fact that I initially ran the first two lines of your recommended commands while I was logged on as the standard administrator (used to setup OS X). However, when I first received that error…I thought it may have something to do with user privileges. So I logged on as root and re-attempted…same error received.
Just wanted to drop a note that I got this to work for me on Snow Leopard 10.6.6 using the combination of everyone’s comments here. The first two Snow Leopard commands worked for me, but I was getting the same error 9960 on the third command. It turns out, after running the first two commands, everything is set up so that you can finish the work in the Disk Utility GUI app. Instead of running the third command, I added the second disk to the RAID mirror set in the Disk Utility GUI and it rebuilt the mirror just fine. But, on a 1.5 TB disk, it took about six hours to do it, LOL
Im getting “Error -9960″. is there a better way of doing this without damaging anything in the process.
I’ll appreciate any assistance .
Thank you.
Could it be the “Error -9960″ is caused by the fact that you started up (booted) from the first disk? Possibly you will avoid it when you start up from external Drive, DVD or USB-stick.
i got this working. booting from the install disk I ran
# diskutil list
this showed me disk1s2 was my drive with data and disk0s2 was the blank drive
#diskutil appleRAID enable mirror disk1s2
#diskutil list
run this again to see what the name of the raid is, in my case it was “disk9″
#diskutil appleRAID add member disk0s2 disk9
note that the command is “member” not “mirror” again
now restart and boot normally. It may take some time, but it should recognize your raid as having a failed drive. Now just select ‘rebuild raid’ and it will take care of the rest for you.. it is running now making a copy of the good disk to the backup