RAID help

[Richard Pyne]

I am trying to set up a new system to run software RAID. I have read 
the HOWTO ( http://unthought.net/Software-RAID-HOWTO ) several times, 
but there are a few things I am still unsure of.

Is it safe (possible) to boot with /boot on a RAID-5?

How do I mark a drive (sda, the drive with the base Lunar 
installation) as failed in raidtab in order to make the base 
installed drive part of the RAID (as described in HOWTO section 
4.12.2)?

Can I use reiserfs on a RAID-5 device?

How do I put the swap partition on a RAID-5 device since I can't mark 
the partition type?

I know some of these questions may seem rather elementary, but this is 
my first attempt at setting up software RAID.

Thanks in advance for your help.

--Richard

-- 
Richard B. Pyne
rpyne at kinfolk.org