Method for implementing a redundant data storage system

1. A method for implementing a redundant data storage system comprising:

automatically determining a hardware configuration of a computer system while installing a software operating system on a first data storage device of said computer system, the computer system comprising at least the first data storage device and a second data storage device, each of the first and second data storage devices comprising a disk storage device for general data storage for the computer system;

receiving an instruction requesting implementation of a first configuration of said computer system, the first configuration comprising a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) configuration, the RAID configuration mirroring the first data storage device and the second data storage device such that a first copy of said software operating system is maintained upon the first data storage device of said computer system and a second copy of said software operating system is maintained upon the second data storage device of said computer system; and

automatically implementing said RAID configuration while installing said software operating system on the first and second data storage devices.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein said RAID configuration is implemented in software using an in/out (i/o) driver.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein said RAID configuration comprises a RAID-1 data storage system.

4. The method as recited in claim 2 , further comprising maintaining information about said RAID configuration in a non-volatile memory device.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein said determining further comprises evaluating said hardware configuration and determining a default configuration of said computer system based upon said evaluating.

6. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein said first configuration is a user selected configuration and further comprising generating and displaying a warning message if the first configuration provides less fault tolerance than the default configuration.

7. A computer-usable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer system to perform a method for installing a redundant data storage system comprising:

automatically determining a hardware configuration of a computer system while installing a software operating system on a first data storage device of said computer system, the computer system comprising at least the first data storage device and a second data storage device, each of the first and second data storage devices comprising a disk storage device for general data storage for the computer system;

receiving an instruction requesting implementation of a first configuration of said computer system, the first configuration comprising a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) configuration, the RAID configuration mirroring the first data storage device and the second data storage device such that a first copy of said software operating system is maintained upon the first data storage device of said computer system and a second copy of said software operating system is maintained upon the second data storage device of said computer system; and

automatically implementing said first configuration while installing said software operating system on the first and second data storage devices.

8. The computer usable medium of claim 7 , wherein said RAID configuration is implemented in software using an in/out (i/o) driver.

9. The computer usable medium of claim 8 , wherein said RAID configuration comprises a RAID-1 data storage system.

10. The computer usable medium of claim 8 , further comprising maintaining information about said RAID configuration in a non-volatile memory device.

11. The computer usable medium of claim 7 , wherein said determining further comprises evaluating said hardware configuration and determining a default configuration of said computer system based upon said evaluating.

12. The computer usable medium of claim 11 , wherein said first configuration is a user selected configuration and further comprising generating and displaying a warning message if the first configuration provides less fault tolerance than the default configuration.

13. A computer system comprising:

a processor in communication with a data bus,

volatile memory in communication with the data bus; and

a plurality of data storage devices in communication with the data bus, the plurality of data storage devices comprising at least a first slice and a second slice, the first and second slice mirroring each other in a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) configuration, each of the first and second slices containing a copy of an operating system, the operating system containing code for booting the computer system and controlling operation the computer system, the operating system including a software i/o driver that implements of the RAID configuration and handles read and write requests to disk controllers controlling the data storage devices, wherein, if either of the slices fail, the computer system can boot from and load the copy of the operating system stored in an other of the first and second slices, wherein the RAID configuration is created during installation of the operating system on the first and second slices.