[stargate125645]

I have decided to do RAID 0 with my two 150 GB Raptors. As such, I have the following questions:
- I already have one of the drives formatted as normal. When I select the drives for RAID 0 configuration, will it reformat the drives (i.e., will I lose my information)?
- Is there a specific order I should have the two drives in (i.e. should the formatted drive be in the primary SATA slot)?
- What stripe size should I use? I can go from 4kb to 128kb.

 

[SpartnChief]

1: Yes, it will reformat.
2: There is actually a minute performance difference as to which ports you use. Usually, using eihther 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 yields best results.
3: As for stripe size, I have no idea. Generally, people use 64 or 128, but you should check out the different sizes to see what advantages they each have

 

[ThaLoveDocta]

1. yes it will reformat the drives, you have no choice there.
2. i think you just stick em in, 1 and 3 slots and it will see them both and format them as they are. even the formatted one gets reformated for raid
3. i'm using 16... ppl recomend 16 or 32 as the quickest it depends on your system and files you will be moving most.

Edit: Spartan you're quick

 

[stargate125645]

After I go through the RAID setup utility, do I just reformat the drives like normal, or will I notice a difference when installing Windows, etc.?

 

[Nick7269]

I recently had the same questions you have. I did do a lot of searching around. From what I gather on stripe size is:
The larger the faster/more wasted space though
Some peeps say you should not go higher than 16.....(some formula dealing with cluster size of windows os)
I have read a LOT peeps went as large as they could 128 (just to be faster)

I went 64 i think.....right down the middle

Have had no problems at all, just improved performance.

You should enjoy the setup!

 

[SpartnChief]

If you mean the RAID setup utility on the Windows instaler disk after you installed the RAID drivers from a floppy, yes. If you RAIDed them correctly, they should appear as one partition when you get to that stage in the installer.

 

[Nick7269]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stargate125645 After I go through the RAID setup utility, do I just reformat the drives like normal, or will I notice a difference when installing Windows, etc.?

More or less, you need to do a search on how to install the raid drivers. There are a few extra steps. Easy when you know what to do though.

 

[stargate125645]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick7269 More or less, you need to do a search on how to install the raid drivers. There are a few extra steps. Easy when you know what to do though.

I'll be actually reading the instruction manual for the motherboard. Novel idea, I know!