Setting up RAID

Hi all,
I'm thinking seriously about setting up a RAID 0 configuration on my computer, but have a question before I do this.
I currently have two IDE hard drives, one connected by IDE cable the other connected with a SATA cable adapter. Do I need to buy two SATA hard drives to be able to implement RAID?

I've done a lot of research into this - have read a couple guides, as well as my motherboard manual, but still have some confusion about SATA, RAID, and necessary driver's etc (I had a lot of problems when trying to install drivers for my Intel Motherboard).

Any help or advice you can give is greatly appreciated.

S

 

Take a look at http://hardware.mcse.ms/archive13-2005-7-218456.html
Hopefully you may find some useful ideas there.

 

I setup raid 0+1 at my house and in the office just as an expirement since i had the equiptment. I just have some advice and im not sure if others have ran into the same problem but raid 0+1 seemed to frag up alot. Not sure if just 0 has the same problem but it's something to take a look at once it is up and running. I have it set to defrag every night, but the speed benefits are definetly worth it.

 

Thanks Tonman, I'll keep that in mind.
Nobody answered my newb question .... can I setup RAID 0 with two IDE hard disks?
May seem like a dumb question, but out of all the material I've read so far, it never actually says one way or the other (Either that or I get a little lost in the details).

 

Oh sorry bout that, this should clear things up for you.

RAID 0
* No redundancy in this configuration, but allows for the best performance because of it. Fastest write performance of any RAID configuration.
* At least 2 hard disks are required, usually of the same size and speed.
* Size is equal to the smallest hard drive in the RAID * the number of drives.
this link has mor info on a few raid options.

 

RAID with mixed IDE drive. Hmm.

Check up your motherboard doc first. Since most of the RAIDs being implemented for SATA are software/BIOS RAID, you can do whatever your motherboard supports. Usually its only SATA, but you never know.

If you can't get any answer from manual, then there is only one way to confirm it - to take the plung yourself. Post the results back.

 

That's a good point, the info says the drives don't have to be identical, but i was always under the impression you needed the exact same drives for raid. Anyways rsinfo is right, check the mobo manual or even call the manufacturer if the manual doesn't end up being helpful.

 

Okie dokie, thanks for the feedback.
I have read through the manual pretty thoroughly and it certainly seem to support RAID. I'll post back after I've had a go at implementing it.

S

 

Great. Would be watching out for your comments. Keep us updated.

 

Your board (Abit IC7-G) will actually do two RAID arrays. Both SATA but no IDE.
2 channels of the Intel RAID controller and 2 channels on the silicon image.
Installing Windows on a RAID array is a little diffrent. First you have to put the RAID controller drivers on a Floppy.
Second you will boot from the XP CD and hit F6 to load additional RAID drivers.

Oh one more thing, when you enable the RAID controller in the bios you will see the controller come up in post. This is where you create your array of 0 or 1.

It's always best to use identical drives.

 

Curiousity question - Scott

I know you're pretty comfortable with 2K Server and 2003 Server. 2K permits MS based mirroring and 2003 even has shadowing - does XP provide same option for a mirrored RAID? I've never checked it out and was wondering if you have a quick answer.

 

I don't have any confidence in a software RAID solution. Sorry!

 

Mirroring and shadowing are quite different processes. Shadowing is a file based system that monitors files and saves changes/differences. Splendid utility (it makes my life much easier). Mirroring is making an exact copy of the disk and usually occurs at a much lower level. RAID 1 mirroring, two disks, one being a copy of the other. Fast read, slow write.

I wouldn't use RAID 0. You've multiplied the chance of failure of the most unreliable part of your computer (the hard disk) by the number of disks in the array. You loose one disk in the array, you lose the data on the lot. A three disk RAID 0 is three time more likely to fail than a standalone disk.

 

Absolutly correcto!
I have had a fettish with always having my personal PC in RAID zero for the fast read write speed and let me tell you I have lost a ton of data because of this!

 

RAID 1 is fast for read (if you have a decent RAID system). As all the data is mirrored on two disks, the system can pull one lot of data from one disk and the other lot from the other. How well this works over the SATA bus I'm not sure, but it should be faster than a standalone disk.

 

I feel very much the same but that wasn't my question. Am quite familiar with RAID configurations and would echo your and ReggieB's sentiments - haven't run anything in RAID 0 for well over 5 years. (lesson learned the hard way) Also quite familar with the difference between shadowing and mirroring.

Though you might have a quick answer to what was posed as a curiousity question - thats all.

 

I have had raid 1 + 0 setup and i am very impressed with the speed boost and haven't had any problems other then the fragmenting i talked about in the earlier post. Also sacrafice half of you disk space but it's worth it in my opinion.

 

I learned that the hard way also.
RAID 0 + 1 requires 4 drives. Unless you have a 4 channel controller if one drive goes down it pulls the other drive down on that channel.
I have had 2 servers go belly up for this reason.
If you have 4 drives the solution is simple. 4 channel RAID card that does RAID 5.
Make 3 drives part of the Array and a 4th for a hot spare and sleep well at night.
That way 2 drives would have to die before you even went critical. You would have to loose 3 drives to loose any data.

Here is a Dell Server I retro fitted with a Escalade PCI Express Controller and 4 SATA 150 160 gig drives. Probably a little over kill for a desktop.
Raid 5

 

Your right I did miss the question.

I am not aware of anything in XP. If it was there I would think it would show up in system tools but I don't see anything.
I have never heard it mentioned before untill today.

 

So I can't setup RAID 0 without two SATA hard disks for my motherboard type anyway? Darn. And basically you advise against RAID 0 anyway? Double darn.
Oh well, I'll just partition my hard drive this time around - I have yet to tinker with partitioning.