This is an example config file for a 64bit 8GB GNU/Linux machine running mainly InnoDB. This config file will not work on a 32bit instance as it is configured to address more memory than 32bit procceses allow. This configuration assumes that this will be a replication master. If this is a slave and it doesn’t [...]

Hybrid RAID implementations have become very popular with the introduction of inexpensive RAID controllers, implemented using a standard disk controller and BIOS (software) extensions to provide the RAID functionality. The operating system requires specialized RAID device drivers that present the array as a single block based logical disk. Since these controllers actually do all calculations [...]

RAID 1 is usually implemented as mirroring; a drive has its data duplicated on two different drives using either a hardware RAID controller or software (generally via the operating system). If either drive fails, the other continues to function as a single drive until the failed drive is replaced. Conceptually simple, RAID 1 is popular for those who require fault tolerance and don’t need top-notch read performance. A variant of RAID 1 is duplexing, which duplicates the controller card as well as the drive, providing tolerance against failures of either a drive or a controller. It is much less commonly seen than straight mirroring.

You can get the information directly from /proc, you can use lspci, etc. And if you are using X then there are many ways to show this information in a nice way. Still, I would like to show you the power of this little tool (lshw) that I found very useful if you are using [...]