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Dedicated Servers and Bare Metal Servers: Using netboot.xyz to install AlmaLinux 10 or Rocky Linux 10 and set up software RAID 1 and 5

In this guide, you will learn how to set up a software RAID 1 and additionally a software RAID 5 during the clean installation of AlmaLinux 10 or Rocky Linux 10 via netboot.xyz on a Dedicated Server or a Bare Metal Server. In this example, we use the first two SSDs for a fail-safe system RAID 1. Afterwards, we explain how to set up a software RAID 5 for the remaining 3 hard drives.

RAID 5 requires at least 3 hard drives and uses striping with distributed parity. It provides increased fault tolerance against the failure of a single drive through parity. Overall, a software RAID 5 offers a good price-to-performance ratio in terms of redundancy and storage optimisation.

The capacity is calculated as follows: (Number of storage drives - 1) x Capacity

Caution

  • The creation of a software RAID 5 requires advanced knowledge of Linux server administration. Follow the described sequence of steps exactly. Otherwise, there is a risk of data loss!
  • This process will delete all existing data on the target hard drives.
     

Note

The creation and configuration of the software RAID 5 is not covered by the support scope. An overview of the included services can be found on the following page:
Scope of support for server products
 

Requirements

  • A Dedicated Server or a Bare Metal Server with 2 SSDs and at least 3 unused hard drives of the same size.
  • You have noted down the sizes of the SSDs and the hard drives.
  • There are no existing partitions on the hard drives.

Install the operating system via netboot.xyz

Before partitioning can begin, you need to load the installation environment.

  • Log in to your IONOS account.
  • In the title bar, click on Menu > Servers & Cloud.
    Optional: Select the desired Servers & Cloud contract. The Cloud Panel opens.
  • In the Cloud Panel, navigate to Infrastructure > Servers and click on the desired server.
  • Click the Console button. To connect to the VNC console, select VNC Console. The VNC console will open in a new tab, and the connection to the server will be established. This may take a moment.
  • Select the option Continue with Self installation Here. The menu loads.
  • In the Distributions section, select the GNU/Linux installation method.
  • Select the Linux distribution AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux.
  • Select the version AlmaLinux 10 or Rocky Linux 10. The installation menu opens.
  • Select the option AlmaLinux 10 graphical installer or Rocky Linux 10 graphical installer.
  • In the Installation Summary window, click the Keyboard button. The Keyboard Layout window opens.
  • Select your desired language (e.g., English).
  • Click Done. The Installation Summary window reappears.
  • Click the Language Support button. The Language Support window opens. Select your preferred language on the left and the specific regional variation on the right (e.g., English (United States)).
  • Click Done. The Installation Summary window reappears.

Configure the root account

  • In the Installation Summary window, under the USER SETTINGS section, click the Root Account button. The ROOT ACCOUNT window opens.
  • Enable the Enable root account option.
  • Enter your root password in the Root Password field.
  • Re-enter the password in the Confirm field.
  • Enable the Allow root SSH login with password option.
  • Click the Done button.

Configure time and date

  • Click the Time & Date button.
  • Select your server's time zone.
  • Ensure that the Automatic date & time option is enabled.

Select software for installation

  • To select the components to be installed, click the Software Selection button. The SOFTWARE SELECTION window opens.
  • In the Base Environment section, select the desired installation type.
  • In the Additional software for Selected Environment section, choose your desired software packages.

Select installation destination

In this step, we specify which physical drives will be used for the installation.

  • In the installation menu, click Installation Destination. The INSTALLATION DESTINATION window opens.
  • Ensure that all available drives under Local Standard Disks are marked with a checkmark.
  • In the Storage Configuration section, select the Custom option.
  • Click the Done button. The MANUAL PARTITIONING window opens.

Create software RAID 1 (system drives)

To configure the first two SSDs for the operating system partitions, complete the following:

Create the first boot partition
  • Ensure that the partitioning scheme in the MANUAL PARTITIONING window is set to Standard Partition.
  • Click the plus sign (+) to add a mount point. The ADD A NEW MOUNT POINT window opens.
  • Select /boot/efi from the Mount Point drop-down list.
  • Enter 1024 MiB in the Desired Capacity field and click Add mount point.
  • The mount point is created, and the MANUAL PARTITIONING window is displayed. The partition with the mount point /boot/efi is selected.
  • In the Device Type list, select RAID.
  • In the RAID Level list, select RAID1.
  • In the File System list, select the file system. Selecting the EFI System Partition file system is recommended.
  • Under Device(s), click the Modify button and ensure that only the SSDs are selected (e.g., sda and sdb). Pay attention to the size of the drives.
  • Click Update Settings.
     
Create the root partition
  • In the MANUAL PARTITIONING window, click the plus sign (+) to add a mount point. The ADD A NEW MOUNT POINT window opens.
  • Select / from the Mount Point drop-down list.
  • Leave the Desired Capacity field blank to use the remaining space on the first two SSDs.
  • Click Add mount point. The mount point is created, and the MANUAL PARTITIONING window is displayed. The partition with the mount point / is selected.
  • In the Device Type list, select RAID.
  • In the RAID Level list, select RAID1.
  • Ensure that the same file system as the first boot partition is selected in the File System list.
  • Under Device(s), click the Modify button and ensure that only the SSDs are selected (sda and sdb).
  • Click Select.
  • Click the Update Settings button.

Create software RAID 5 (data drives)

To configure the remaining 3 hard drives as a RAID 5 array, proceed as follows:

  • In the MANUAL PARTITIONING window, click the plus sign (+).
  • Enter a mount point for your data (e.g., /data or /mnt/storage).
  • Leave the field blank to use all remaining space on the minimum of 3 hard drives.
  • Click Add mount point.
  • In the Device Type list, select RAID.
  • In the RAID Level list, select RAID5.
  • In the File System list, select the desired file system.
  • Under Device(s), click the Modify button.
  • Important: Ensure that only the intended hard drives (HDDs) are selected.
  • Click Select.
  • Click Update Settings.
     

Verifying configuration and proceed with installation

  • Ensure that the partition layouts and RAIDs are configured correctly.
  • Click the Done button. The SUMMARY OF CHANGES window will be displayed.
  • Click the ACCEPT CHANGES button. The INSTALLATION SUMMARY window will reappear.
  • In the INSTALLATION SUMMARY window, click the Begin Installation button. The operating system will be installed.
  • The operating system is installed.
     

Check the status of software RAIDs

To check the status of the software RAIDs, complete the following:

  • Log in to the server via SSH as the administrator (root).

  • To check the status of the software RAIDs, enter the following command:

    [root@localhost ~]# cat /proc/mdstat

  • To check the available disk space, enter the following command:

    [root@localhost ~]# df -h

Notes

After creating a RAID 5, an initial data synchronisation (Resync) takes place in the background.

  • Performance: During this process, the system's read and write speeds may be temporarily reduced.
  • Duration: Depending on the size of the hard drives and the system load, this process can take several hours or even days.
  • Availability: The server can be used normally during this time; however, the RAID only offers full fault tolerance after the synchronisation process is complete.

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