RAID 0 offers no security whatsoever for your data.
In a nutshell, imagine that each piece of data is split in two, one half is stored on hard drive #1 and the other half is stored on hard drive #2. If one hard drive fails, there is no way to recover half of the data, therefore the entire set is lost.
Conclusion: do not store important data on a RAID 0 array, unless:
- you need the extra speed
- you do very frequent backups
I'd recommend a setup like this if you want RAID 0:
- Two small drives for your OS and programs in RAID 0
- One or two drives for your data, in RAID 1 if two drives. Or no RAID and an external drive for backups.
Edit: RAID is very easy to setup though. Consult your motherboard's manual for specific instructions. Since pretty much all motherboards that support RAID do so through Intel's ICH10R south bridge, the RAID setup process is the same across most motherboards. Once you have your array set up, the system will detect the array as just one regular hard drive provided proper drivers are loaded. Modern versions of Windows (7 and most likely Vista as well) should detect it properly and allow you to install the OS directly and easily.
