Going to raid, need info

Going to raid setup and have some files stored on a old 2 gig hd. When i get the raid going (using pci card) cani plug old hd into mobo ide plug and swap files over? thanks

 

Hi ehauff
I've not worked with Raid...so I had to go the next best route and ask my guru. Here's his reply:
Unclear question. But I assume by "plug in" he means that he'll plug his 2 HDs in and create the raid (raid 0 or 1?).
But I'd say "no ". Move the files somewhere else, create the raid and then move the files back. Creating a raid usually require some formating...

 

Where's Brett when we need him to dis Daizy's Guru?

Answer is similarly confusing and lends some credibility back to the "guru ". If a stripe, answer is yes. If a mirror, answer is also yes. However, this assumes RAID 0 or Raid 1 is totally independent/void of the old drive. Your mirror or your stripe will read as one drive and you can do anything with it that you would do with a single drive.

 

Rockster2U Don't you dare alert Brett that I'm even around! My life has been so peacefully quiet.

And..... "my guru "....replies thusly:
"If the drive containing the files are to be part of the raid, then it's best to move the files to some (non-raid) place before creating the raid. What happens to the content of the drive as part of the raid depends on how the raid is set up, what type raid and what part (physically) the drive in question is to play in the configured raid. "

 

The drive with the files is a 3rd hd and wont be used inthe raid system. I just didnt know if it would mess anything up by seting up the raid and get it going(on a pci card) then plugging the 3rd hd into the motherboard ide plug. would that through things into disarray? I have a msi kt4v mobo. Thanks again

 

And my "guru guy" says thusly:

 

thank you very much.

 

You're most welcome. Did it help?

 

ehauff ...

Sorry I didn''t see this thread sooner, as I could have saved a lot of folks a lot of typing.

It was clear to me from the get-go that you didn't intend to include the old 2GB HD in the RAID array. No matter the size of the second HD, if setting up RAID 0, you'd have been limited to a 4GB array; if RAID 1, 2GB. NO one would set up a RAID array with such paltry numbers.

Daizy's "guru guy" is correct ... make sure that you're booting from the array, rather than the HD plugged into the mainboard's IDE bus. On my system the RAID bus is also on the board, and the boot order is set in the BIOS.

All that said, if you're setting up a RAID array on a home system, I see no reason to use RAID 0 (striping). The speed increase attributed to RAID 0 is unnoticeable to the average user and, if the intent is to use RAID 0 to increase the size of the HD, you're better off buying a single large HD. The important thing to remember is that the failure of any drive in a RAID 0 array will make all data on the array unrecoverable. I went down that road a year ago, and it wasn't fun.

I rebuilt my system using RAID 1 (mirroring), and have been completely satisfied. The system sees the two drives in the RAID array as a single drive, but should one of them fail the other remains usable and the data remains intact and available. Call it data protection through hardware redundancy.

 

I havnt made the swap yet, going to this weekend.(2-7-04)
I have 2 40gb hd so thats why im going to raid 0, I dont have any valuable files and i relize the speed increase will be nill. Plus who can deny that it just sounds cool! So if i post here again this weekend youll know if i had troubles. One more quick ?, does microsoft chargeyou to reactivate xp? Ive never found a clear answer and i know i should post under that forum, but im here now. thanks again.

 

Quote:

• "...who can deny that it [RAID 0] just sounds cool! "

If that's your only reason for setting up a RAID 0 array, be my guest. Just don't ever say you weren't warned when everything goes up in flames! The operative word concerning hard drive failure isn't if, but when!

Quote:

• "...does microsoft charge you to reactivate xp? "

No, and you can do it online. If you use RAID 1, though, you wouldn't even have to bother, since you'd just be copying one drive to the other during the array setup.

 

More RAID

Let's assume a hardware implementation of level 0 - A.K.A. striping - through a PCI card like ehauff or an onboard Sil 3112A SATA controller. I assume the OS will see only one virtual drive.

Question 1: Can it be partitioned into primary and logical/extended volumes ? I think so, but it would be nice to get a confirmation from someone with actual hands-on experience.

Regarding "speed ". The seek time of EIDE/SATA drives is at best 9 ms. Whether you stripe across two or four physical drives, the initial access time will not be halved. It's a mechanical characteristic. I assume this translate into the snappiness of a system being the same - or worse - than before (notwithstanding any latency caused by the RAID controller).

But for medium to larger files transfer, for read/write intensive applications such as audio-video transcoding (MP3 and DIVx ripping) for example, there should be a net improvement. One that can be further tweaked by selecting a proper stripe size.

Question 2: What is the optimal stripe size for a domestic user ? Some domestic users are known to fiddle with things like Photoshop, manage rather large MP3 libraries and some will even author their own DVDs with baby pictures and family movies... MPEG2 encoding can be surprisingly time consuming.

I found this link to be helpful with the theory: "What is RAID ? " , but it does not give precise guidelines for stripe sizes.

I just found what I was after on StorageReview

 

Yes. The OS sees only one large drive.

See, also, this article at storagereview.com.

It's been awhile but, as I recall, I wasn't given a choice of stripe size in the RAID 0 configuration. In fact, I was only given the choice of whether to use RAID 0 or RAID 1.

Not to put ehauff down, but it appears that he's not interested in the usual reasons for setting up a RAID array ... he's doing it because he can do it. In effect, he's going for bragging rights, and that's fine ... it's his system, and experimentation can be a good thing if there's nothing of value to lose.

That said, I restate my position that RAID 0 is not the best choice for the home user (unless properly backed up, which may, or may not, happen). If sheer capacity is the goal, though, 250GB drives are available for under $165 (including shipping) at pricewatch.com.

 

Couldn't pass it up - What is a domestic user?
Couldn't pass it up - WD Raptor is 5.6ms seek speed.
Couldn't pass it up - I could have saved a lot of people a lot of typing.

Where's Brett when this thread needs him?

 

Alright Rockster2U ...that's TWICE, you've summoned the Manx to this thread.

Go sit in the truck and think about why you're there!

 

JSS3rd I am doing it so i can say i did. Is it over kill? You bet. But thats the fun in it.If a hrad drive fails or it proves to slow ill rip it all out and sell it off on ebay.No biggy. I dont keep anything to important on a computer anyways.....with them being so tempromental. The most valuable thing i keep is mp3's and a few photo's. The speed thing isnt really that important cause right now its plenty fast if it at least stays as fast ill be happy. I heard booting is slower but i let mine run 24/7.

 

Forgot, if i do go raid 1 do i just plug the card and 2 drives in and go? Or do i still have to redo windows and the whole 9 yards? thanks again, you guys rock!

 

You would have to reinstall Windows "and the whole nine yards" only if you use RAID 0. If you use RAID 1, the original HD is copied to the new one when you set up the array.

Whichever you choose, good luck. Please post back and let us know how it went.

 

Time Out - Not so.

I think it was said that two 40's were going to be used for this "doing it for the sake of doing it" RAID. And, I think the existing drive is a whopping 2 gigs. He can build his striped array and simply copy everything over to it and then resize it (it will otherwise be 2 gigs, leaving 78 unusable). Similarly, if he were to use the existing drive in a mirror as you have (not suggested, but referenced), he'd be leaving 38 gigs on the table, assuming he used one of the 40's - and I doubt that that would even work because I'll bet the 40's are 7200rpm and the 2 gig is 5400 at best. Another bet is that there is no XP involved here because the original drive is only 2 gigs. That gets him past a driver issue which could have forced a clean install.

So, you didn't save us all that typing after all. A Raid configuration, be ye stripe or be ye mirror or yeah, lets get technical - be ye a mirrored stripe, requires matched drives.

ehauff - you can salvage your existing OS and all of your files but you'll need something like Drive Image or Ghost and something like Partition Magic or Ranisch so you can both copy and resize.

I will agree with JSS3 that you will see a minimal performance boost and are only creating a potential problem for yourself, but you might as well test the water and see for yourself. Hopefully, this will eventually lead to setting up mirrored drives in single machines and then on to intelli-mirrors between machines.



2/10 edit - correct 1st paragraph - 4 gigs, 76 unusable