Using non RAID & RAID configuration in the same computer

Is it possible to install 3 drives (SATA) in a computer so that one hard disk contains OS (Windows, Program Files etc. ) & the other 2 hard disks in RAID 1 (mirroring) mode contain data only? The OS would be either WinXP Pro or Windows 2003 Server.

 

PeteC, I am asking this question because most of the motherboards that I have used have 4 SATA connectors, but in BIOS give you an option to either enable or disable RAID. I think this would effect all the drives.

 

rsinfo-
Not so. Pete is right on. One can run RAID and non-RAID drives (is that even a proper phrase ?/&$%?) in the same machine at the same time. And, in your case with a mobo having four SATA connectors all on the same controller, you could select how many (two or more) drives you wanted to include when building the RAID configuration. You should also be able to build more than one RAID configuration. Don't forget (I know you know) one also has IDE headers which can run parallel ATA drives so it becomes multiple choice. Unfortunately, there's not much performance gain to be had from a striped RAID and all but the most demanding users aren't going to tie up an extra drive to mirror another so its more of an academic issue than anything else. Now, if you want a challenge sprinkled with a little confusion take this old Asus SK8V 940 board with a Promise SATA controller, a Via SATA controller and a couple of IDE controllers and think of the fun that can be had.



edit: enabling RAID doesn't equate to having to run a RAID configuration. JBOD - Just a Bunch Of Discs - is also an option and all except the very old Promise contollers permit this.

 

Rockster2U, thanks for the input. I know that RAID 1 is not the preferred method now, but my client has limited budget & wants the data to be absolutely safe with minimum cost. Right now he is not very worried about performance issues.