[aznDANNYazn]

Ok i currently have 3 320GB HDDs. First of which is for OS and has about 100GB free. Second has media and is near full. Third has just been formatted in expectance of RIAD 0. Is there a way to RAID 0 with the 3 HDDs that I have? My understanding is before you can RAID 0 you must have 2 blank HDDs. This is my first time ever doing this so a step by step would be very helpful and any other comments that would aid me would be awesome. As always I am a rep whore and appreciate good info. Thanks fellas

 

[dralb]

Assuming you are referring to RAID0: You need to create the array prior to installing the OS if you want the OS in the RAID partition. If you want, you could RAID0 any 2 of the drives or all 3. It is usually recommended to have an array and a back-up in case one of the drives in the array or the controller itself fails. I do not think you can RAID0 partitions. (as in creating a 100gb partition on each drive and putting them into an array).

If I were you, I would move any important files onto the drive with the music on it. Then, create an array with the 2 other drives. You can then format and install onto that array however you want.

edit: Once you have the array created, you can format it and partition it like any other drive. The OS will see the array as one drive, just twice as big. (need to go into BIOS and set it to RAID and then create the array by hitting ctrl and I at the proper time during boot)

 

[aznDANNYazn]

dralb thanks for the quick reply. i see we have the same Mobo, is the RAID controller on this work pretty good? my big issue is whether i have to reinstall my OS or not, but judging by your post I guess i will have to. Is the boot up/start up time with RAID 0 a lot better?

also can someone throw some links my way, like i said i am 100 new to this lol.

 

[billbartuska]

I'm not going to be to much help here, as even though I have been using RAID arrays for the last 5-6 years, I've never set up a RAiD0 on an existing setup, other that by adding in a raid card.

If you want the array to be bootable, yes, you have to start out with all the drives in the array formatted (or reformatted). Well you don't have to, but all the data on the drives goes to bit heaven anyway when you create the array.

You can make a non bootable array though. You just ghost the data back onto the new array. There are many problems with doing that though, and it's much to complicated to describe in a single post.

 

[dralb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aznDANNYazn dralb thanks for the quick reply. i see we have the same Mobo, is the RAID controller on this work pretty good? my big issue is whether i have to reinstall my OS or not, but judging by your post I guess i will have to. Is the boot up/start up time with RAID 0 a lot better? also can someone throw some links my way, like i said i am 100 new to this lol.

Actually, there are 2 RAID controllers. The 2 blue SATA ports are Gigabyte RAID and the yellows are for Intel RAID. I am currently using the Intel RAID controller. The speed increase is pretty good. I haven't tried the Gigabyte one yet. You can either reinstall the OS or image it to the array. I highly suggest as reinstall as it will be easier and it is always a good idea to reinstall.

 

[ericeod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dralb Actually, there are 2 RAID controllers. The 2 blue SATA ports are Gigabyte RAID and the yellows are for Intel RAID. I am currently using the Intel RAID controller. The speed increase is pretty good. I haven't tried the Gigabyte one yet. You can either reinstall the OS or image it to the array. I highly suggest as reinstall as it will be easier and it is always a good idea to reinstall.

I dont like the Gigabyte (uses a Marvel Raid chip I believe) controller. The ICH10R and 9R(X38/X48 and P35) is also pretty good. It definitely outperforms NVIDIA's offerings.

 

[dralb]

All you need to do is move the files you want to keep to the drive you want as a back-up. Then, reboot into BIOS. Under Integrated Peripherals, you can change the SATA mode from AHCI, RAID and Disabled. Once you set it to RAID mode, reboot. Now, after POST and the splash screen etc, you will see a prompt asking you to hit ctrl and the letter I. This gets you into the RAID menu. Once there, you can follow the instructions and set up the array. After that, boot to OS install disc, format the array (will be seen as a normal hdd by Windows) and install the OS.

edit: Also, this is for the Intel controller. I am not sure if the menu is the same for the gigabyte.

edit2: You can see in the first pic the command at the bottom. Also, notice the drives I have. @ 80gb in RAID0 and one 500GB. That is how yours would look if you put 2 drives in an array and left the third as back-up. If you have another back-up drive to save your files (or use DVD's etc.) you can RAID0 all three. There is a smaller gain from going 2-3 than there is going from 1-2. though.

 

[aznDANNYazn]

wow thanks big time man. I am going to find my vista disk and i may try this tonight after the bar

this might be stupid, but im guessing i have to connect the 2 320GB HDDs to the right SATA ports on the mobo, correct? I ran HDTune benchmark on all 3 of my drives, and well my main drive for the OS seems very inconsistent. let me know what you guys think.
1st - OS
2nd -Important Media
3rd - Other Media

should i be concerned at all? thanks again dralb