Installing Ubuntu Server on RAID 1 array

Question

I'm currently working on installing Ubuntu Server on a Fujitsu TX1330 M3 server I recently purchased. The setup is as follows:

2 x 1 TB HDD for the OS (I know, waste of space, but I don't want to put data on Seagate drives, bad experience)

2 x 6 TB HDD for data (WD Datacenter)

My plan is to run both pairs of HDD's in RAID 1 Linux softraid arrays, and install Ubuntu on the 1 TB array.

I've tried the instructions here: https://help.ubuntu.com/lts/serverguide/advanced-installation.html with the addition of creating a ESP partition which is not part of the raid array. As I understand, you can't RAID your GRUB :-P

However, I do have a few questions:

1. Can I create two ESP partitions, one on each HDD, not in a RAID array, and manually install GRUB on the second one after the installation? To preserve boot capability when one HDD fails.

2. If this is indeed possible, should I label both partitions as "Use as: EFI System Partition", or will this confuse the installer?

So far I have had little success when I tried completing the installer with this method. After the installer finishes without errors, and tells me to reboot and remove the installation media, the server goes straight to BIOS. None of the HDD's show up as bootable media, so I cannot force it to boot from the HDD.

When I start a live version of Ubuntu, gparted tells me four times that the backup GPT partition table is corrupt. (one for each HDD)

Does anybody have any tips for how I can make this boat anchor work as a proper server?

Thanks

Solution

Essentially, I got this to work by following the instructions found here, and I can confirm that these instructions work for Ubuntu Server as well, with a few modifications:

How to install Ubuntu 14.04/16.04 64-bit with a dual-boot RAID 1 partition on an UEFI/GPT system?