Question : Problem: Can someone please tell me what the ideal drive configuration would be for this mySQL database server?

Hello,
I am currently building an AMD64 Mysql Database server. So far I have the following:

2 AMD Opteron 275's
1 Tyan Thunder K8HM (S3892) Motherboard + TARO Sata2 / SAS controller
16 gigs of DDR333 Ram

What Im not sure about is what drives to get and how to configure them. The motherboard natively has 4 SATA1 ports, that support Raid 0/1/5/10... and with the additional TARO daughter board it also has 4 Sata2 / SAS ports at 300mbps. I have opted to stay away from SCSI U320 on this project.  The operating system itself (Centos5 x86_64) is installed on a 500gig maxtor ide drive, with the other controllers left free for the actual storage of the mysql database and logs.

My thoughts are this... I think it would be best to keep the data (MyISAM tables) on the SATA2 / SAS controller, and split the logs off onto the sata1 controller. This should reduce the seek and write overhead of logging, enabling the actual data to be read and manipulated faster. What Im not sure of is A) What drives to purchase for the Sata2 / SAS controller (bigger is better in this case as there will be masses of data) but speed is also very important. I was thinking about purchasing 4 500gig sata2 drives, at 7200rpm with 16mb write back cache and running them in a raid 10 configuration, however, after looking at SAS I realize I could actually go up to 15,000 rpm drives, but would have to sacrifice on the storage size (146gigs seems to be the max size I can find). Meanwhile, I was thinking about putting 4 sata1 drives at a few hundred gigs a piece on a raid 10 on the sata1 controller.

This is my first attempt at building myself I highend mysql box. Can someone please shed some light on what would be best for this particular application? If possible, please provide drive makes / models, ball park prices, and configuration considerations.

Worth 500 points.

Thanks,
Rick

Answer : Problem: Can someone please tell me what the ideal drive configuration would be for this mySQL database server?

You will be far better off with 15K SAS disks, lots here, http://www.nextag.com/300gb-sas-hard-drive/search-html

The disk configuration you say above is optimal, mirrored pair for OS/swap/programs mirrored pair for logs and another 4 in RAID 10 for data. If it is not write intensive you can get away with putting the logs on the same disks as the OS but with 2 seperate controllers you couldn't have the other 6 in a single array anyway.