Setting up raid 0

PogMoThoin

Can some1 give me advise on setting up a raid 0 array on my new gaming rig (conroe ordered). Also i have a few questions:
What size stripe should i use (defragmenter says my average file size is 1mb)?
Should i set-up with 1 drive and convert to raid 0?
What other probs can i run in2?

tks in advance

DemonOfTheFall

Biggest prob you can run into is that if one drive dies it will take all of your data with it.

You can't start with one drive and add another to make a RAID 0, you need to create the array with both drives right from the start, a process which will totally blank both drives.

PogMoThoin

Was told elsewhere that you can convert to raid. Ya, i know i'll loose data if 1 fails, but i gettin 2 new hd's. is it easy to set up?

liamo

I applaud your desire to learn new skills, however you have a little reading to do about what exactly RAID is. (Hint: The D in RAID stands for Disks - that is, plural). One disk does not a RAID make!

Your RAID configuration will depend on what objective you're trying to achieve. Higher throughput? Hardware redundancy? Both?

A good place to start is here.

Regards,

Liam

8T8

You set up the RAID array in the bios for the Intel RAID controller which you enable as it is probably not going to be turned on by default. After that you enter it's bios after the normal bios post and create the array, then back in the bios set the RAID array as your primary HD in the boot order.

You will also have to provide drivers for the WinXP installer so have those ready too.

As for the cluster size 128k is considered a general all rounder.

If going for straight out performance with RAID 0 it would be a good idea to have another standalone HD or two for storing data in the event one HD goes kaput so you have some degree of a safety net.

PogMoThoin

liamo wrote:

I applaud your desire to learn new skills, however you have a little reading to do about what exactly RAID is. (Hint: The D in RAID stands for Disks - that is, plural). One disk does not a RAID make!

Your RAID configuration will depend on what objective you're trying to achieve. Higher throughput? Hardware redundancy? Both?

A good place to start is here.

Regards,

Liam

I do know how raid works. wouldn't be choosing it otherwise. just wanna know how to set it up. got told that you can convert to raid. and yes i do know that it takes 2 disks, have 2 ordered.

PogMoThoin

8T8 wrote:

You set up the RAID array in the bios for the Intel RAID controller which you enable as it is probably not going to be turned on by default. After that you enter it's bios after the normal bios post and create the array, then back in the bios set the RAID array as your primary HD in the boot order.

You will also have to provide drivers for the WinXP installer so have those ready too.

As for the cluster size 128k is considered a general all rounder.

Cheers 8T8. answered all questions as i wanted.

In the habbit of backing up. have other drives.

L31mr0d

I always thought the term RAID0 was quite misleading, as there is no redundancy involved compared to other RAID setups, and it offers no backup, in fact is more dangerous for your systems stability.

What drives you using for the setup?

PogMoThoin

2x Seagate Barracuda 120Gb SATA2. ordered already.

liamo

PogMoThoin wrote:

I do know how raid works. wouldn't be choosing it otherwise. just wanna know how to set it up. got told that you can convert to raid. and yes i do know that it takes 2 disks, have 2 ordered.

Apologies. I thought from your original post that you were trying to set up RAID0 on a single disk. Oops.

Regards,

Liam

DemonOfTheFall

Whoever told you that you could convert to raid was wrong, I'm almost sure.

Was it an employee of Peats ? I've heard them fob off some poor baxtard with some story about how great and easy it would be to set up RAID on his new PCI card without losing any data...

awhir

PogMoThoin wrote:

Was told elsewhere that you can convert to raid. Ya, i know i'll loose data if 1 fails, but i gettin 2 new hd's. is it easy to set up?

my bad

its just was reading some thread elsewere and someone said that so im srry

PogMoThoin

read something 2 somewhere bout converting to raid. must just be to raid1. no probs m8.

SouperComputer

might be possible, with RAID 0:

Install the RAID drivers on the existing OS.
Ghost the OS onto a spare HD
Setup RAID Array, original HD
Install a copy of norton ghost, windows version. The RAID array "should" be transparant as the drivers have been installed.
Attempt to boot from RAID array, you may have to tweak your boot.ini

PogMoThoin

SouperComputer wrote:

might be possible, with RAID 0:

Install the RAID drivers on the existing OS.
Ghost the OS onto a spare HD
Setup RAID Array, original HD
Install a copy of norton ghost, windows version. The RAID array "should" be transparant as the drivers have been installed.
Attempt to boot from RAID array, you may have to tweak your boot.ini

full new rig = fresh install. be better i think. only thing i really was puzzled on is stripe size but 8T8 answered that. have everythin backed up already.

seamus

There's hardware RAID and software RAID.

With hardware RAID, the existence of the RAID array is largely hidden from the OS, the entire process is controlled by the RAID controller. This means that you plug in your two disks, set up the array using jumpers (or sometimes a boot-up disk which programs the controllers), and then you can install the OS as normal - the OS will only see one disk, not two. Since a RAID array generally appears as a single volume, this concept is the same for all types of RAID.

With software RAID, you install the OS and then you must configure the RAID array on the disks where the OS is not installed. Some OSes will allow you to configure a software RAID array before you install the OS, but none of these OSes are Windows

If you're making a gaming rig, I'd go for hardware RAID.

PogMoThoin

Ya hardware raid is what i want. explains.:rolleyes: tks

SouperComputer

I assumed you were using intel-onboard soft-RAID. Not sure why I thought that, I'm mixing it up with a different thread I guess.

DemonOfTheFall

SouperComputer wrote:

I assumed you were using intel-onboard soft-RAID. Not sure why I thought that, I'm mixing it up with a different thread I guess.

The intel on-board chip may be "soft" in the sense that it will use the CPU for any overhead, but it is most definitely "hard" in the sense that windows isn't involved in setting it up...

PogMoThoin

SouperComputer wrote:

I assumed you were using intel-onboard soft-RAID. Not sure why I thought that, I'm mixing it up with a different thread I guess.

Ya i will be using intel chip for raid but it will be hidden from os.

SouperComputer

DemonOfTheFall wrote:

The intel on-board chip may be "soft" in the sense that it will use the CPU for any overhead, but it is most definitely "hard" in the sense that windows isn't involved in setting it up...

surely that depends on the chipset?

PogMoThoin

Intel matrix storage manager is the software used to create raid from within windows. Read the manual on mobo i'm gettin. Raid 0 looks easy to set up. Straight forward enough.

DemonOfTheFall

I meant that surely it's possible to do all the array creation from outside windows, and not have to do anything in windows other than install the RAID controller driver from a floppy by pushing F6 during setup when prompted.

PogMoThoin

it is. just follow 8T8's instructions in bios on fresh drives. Raid controller driver is already in the bios.

Edit: on a re-read of manual you must add raid driver when installing windows