THis is a general question to see if this would be possible. I've setup a fedora 7 server and i'm in the process of building a site that allows people to upload videos / images. Potentially i could be handling a lot of data. Is it possible to firstly attach an external HDD drive to a fedora machine easily and secondly would it then be possible to either run a website from the external HDD using ISPconfig or configure the site to store the media files on the external disk? Any input greatly recieved as i'm hoping not to have to upgrade the internal HDD.
Usb Hdd The easiest way is to add a HDD is to use an external USB drive. From my experience, you will have to overcome 2 problems: 1) Be able to auto-mount the drive at boot-up 2) In the event that server has to be re-started / re-booted will it be detected on boot-up I say this because I have a usb dvd, in the event of a re-boot or restart, the drive is not always detected. I know you do not want to hear this, but I personally would add or upgrade the internal HDD(s). My server runs 6 internal hdds using RAID 1 arrays ( in the event of a crash ) with 6 spares sitting on the shelf. If you are planning on handling a lot of sites, then I would recommend a system like mine. Your customers / users will not be happy with any down time.
If you're using LVM, you can add the HDD to your existing LVM partitions. This guide might help you: http://www.howtoforge.com/linux_lvm