EddScott

I currently have a 140 and 250 GB hard drive.

I'm planning to get 2 500GB HDs and put them in RAID 1. I'm thinking that they will be storage with a back up (RAID 1) for all my photos and movie files.

I'm then wondering what if anything to do with the 140 and 250 I have. I'm thinking of keeping the 250 in place and putting Windows (XP for another year for me) and my games on that.

Will only using the 250 for games and loading windows make the machine faster?

All just stuff everything onto the 2 500s?

john banks

RAID1 may give a performance benefit when reading.

The density on larger capacity drives and therefore the transfer rate tends to be higher.

RAID1 will not protect your data if both drives fail simultaneously - such as a power supply fault.

I choose to run RAID0 on 2 x 500GB in my gaming machine for performance with backups between the wife's computer and my laptop. A wired connection is quickest compared with wi-fi. Depending on how much data you have why not use the 250+140 as backups, possibly external?

BlkKnight

raid0 = Striped. Data spread over the two disks. Faster (than Raid5 & 1), no redundancy. One disk fail - lose the lot.

Raid1 = Mirrored. Data mirrored over two or more disks. Slow. Good redundancy. Loss of lots of storage space.

EddScott

Only thing that puts me off RAID0 is if one goes the lots gone. I was thinking of RAID1 so at least if one fails the information is still stored on the other.

By the time I fill up 500GB, I'll get 2 1TB drives.

BlkKnight

get a third disk & raid5 it, or 4 and 0+1 (if your array supports it)

john banks

I wouldn't trust RAID1 with my data without a backup anyway for the reason I mentioned that a power supply fault or a small fire could kill both drives.

So for a system you can power down to repair, what is the advantage against the loss of storage and performance?

XP is just silly fast off RAID0

BlkKnight

probability of that is fairly slim

It's cost me a fair bit of dolla to backup my 2tb out of machine!

jowl

Lesson 1: Raid is NOT a backup solution

But, having redundancy in for your data is not a bad thing. I would certainly prefer it to RAID 0...unless I was a serious gamer i suppose...in which case I'd have an xBox360/PS3!!

EddScott

So if I have a RAID1 setup and one fails, how do I retrieve the information from the functioning HD?

I'll be the first to admit I don't know a huge amount about this sort of thing but I can set them up etc. It just that since tinkering with PCs etc the main failures I've had have all been with hard drives.

I can't bare the thought of losing all my **** you see

john banks

Intel® Matrix Storage Manager - Degraded or failed RAID 1 Volume

This is how it is done with my chipset.

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

It can also usually be done in the RAID BIOS: as soon as you set the second (new) drive into the array, it should offer to copy all the data from the first drive over.


M

Shark Man

I've done it the ****-about-tit method on my home PC:

Hardware RAID 0 on two 250gig discs...As a boot drive OS and general programs, and anything current at hand (downloaded/recorded video, working data etc)

Third non-RAID 250gig drive (my old hard disk) retaining its original MBR and OS install and basic programs installed (but not acessible). And critical data backed up on to it weekly (in addition to DVD backups for irreplacable data)). This is the fail-safe/emergency hard disk.

Should the RAID array fail, I just set the old 3rd drive back as the boot drive and I have a working computer with useable functionality and the critical data is still backed up on there.

The theory is a bit like a half arsed RAID 1+0, but I don't have space for 4 drives (HTPC case).

The only issue I have is keeping the unused drive quiet when not in use. Not as easy as I initially thought

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

I do a similar version except drive three isn't bootable - but still has all the data. Which is also duplicated on another machine. Didn't see the point in making it bootable because I'm used to rebuilding Windows - usually a useful opportunity to leave behind all the cr*p which has built up since the last install.


M

EddScott

Well ok, RAID1 isn't a back up facility but at least it gives you a chance to save your information if a HD fails.

What would be a better back up solution?