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When setting up raid 1 do can you use sata drives?
When setting up raid 1 do can you use sata drives?
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Yes, as long your motherboard supports SATA and SATA RAID (most current boards do, except for some budget ones... some exceptions apply.. read my FAQ on Core 2 Duo boards and RAID).
Setting up RAID1 is pretty easy with most boards. You will loose any and all data before you do so though
Setting up RAID1 is pretty easy with most boards. You will loose any and all data before you do so though
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That is my question. What do you recommend? Is the raid 1 actually good for home use. Is any raid good for home use? It will have farm data that is important. Would it be just as good to have two hard drives and do regular backups to it and once in awhile to backup to dvd.
Originally Posted by Sideburns  can you do it without? lol. IDE RAID is sketchy at best...and SCSI is expensive and barely anyone has it. But why do you wanna do RAID 1 anyway? There's no performance increase. |
If you have important data, a RAID1 set up is better than doing regular backups manually.
A RAID1 set up is a mirror set up. Thus, both hard drives will have IDENTICAL content. If one fails, the other one will take over... you'll get a message that the array is broken, but you will still have ALL your data. With back ups you will loose the data you have not backed up yet in case of disk failure.
Also, with a RAID1 array, when a disk fails, it's fairly simple to replace the broken disk. The computer will automatically reconstruct the RAID1 array, and thus you will have data security again.
RAID1 definately is the way to go for data security.
I checked on the Epox board in your system specs, and it does support RAID1. Thus, you can get two SATA hard drives, and build a RAID1 array.
However, in either case, I'd still do back ups to DVD
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You never know if some catastrophic events might take out both drives.
A RAID1 set up is a mirror set up. Thus, both hard drives will have IDENTICAL content. If one fails, the other one will take over... you'll get a message that the array is broken, but you will still have ALL your data. With back ups you will loose the data you have not backed up yet in case of disk failure.
Also, with a RAID1 array, when a disk fails, it's fairly simple to replace the broken disk. The computer will automatically reconstruct the RAID1 array, and thus you will have data security again.
RAID1 definately is the way to go for data security.
I checked on the Epox board in your system specs, and it does support RAID1. Thus, you can get two SATA hard drives, and build a RAID1 array.
However, in either case, I'd still do back ups to DVD
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After doing a lot more reading on the subject I have come to the conclusion that raid 1 is not all that safe and there are still issues that can cause you to lose your info. The safest to me is to have two hard drives and a seperate backup partition and also back up to dvd. What is the best backup software out there?
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Raid 0 man =)
Or.... Drop 4 SATA srives in and so a RAID 5 setup
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Here's the types of RAID and their functions....
http://www.ecs.umass.edu/ece/koren/a...basicRAID.html
Or.... Drop 4 SATA srives in and so a RAID 5 setup
Here's the types of RAID and their functions....
http://www.ecs.umass.edu/ece/koren/a...basicRAID.html
Quote:
If you have important data that is only periodically updated.... spare HD and occassional DVD burner is better. RAID1 doesn't protect your data from physical theft, flooding, tornados, or power surges. Norton Ghost is a great HD back up software and is often on sale.
Originally Posted by ingeborgdot After doing a lot more reading on the subject I have come to the conclusion that raid 1 is not all that safe and there are still issues that can cause you to lose your info. The safest to me is to have two hard drives and a seperate backup partition and also back up to dvd. What is the best backup software out there? |
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Maxtor One Touch Drives....... push a button....data transfer / backup is done
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I have decided now to raid. I am going for it as a new adventure. I do want to ask this question though. I went through the step of starting the raid in bios and then went through the setup where it finally said healthy raid. I am doing a mirror raid. Anyway I have done the stuff needed like os cd and pushing f6 to install raid drivers like needed. It is now installing the os. My question is do I need to initialize the discs after this is all done. This is a brand new machine with a brand new install.
You should not have to initialize the disks, unless you have left unpartitioned space during install.
If you set up all your partitions during install, then they all should be recognized, and drive letters should be assigned accordingly.
Even though you have RAID1, I would still advice to make a periodic back up (weekly or so) of your most critical data. RAID0 is fairly reliable, but in case of catastrophic events (a power surge that knocks out both drives; theft of hardware), you still will loose the data. Do get a surge protector also.
If you set up all your partitions during install, then they all should be recognized, and drive letters should be assigned accordingly.
Even though you have RAID1, I would still advice to make a periodic back up (weekly or so) of your most critical data. RAID0 is fairly reliable, but in case of catastrophic events (a power surge that knocks out both drives; theft of hardware), you still will loose the data. Do get a surge protector also.
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I did not partition my drive other than os and apps plus all other on the same disk. I don't know, maybe I should have but I didn't do it at the time of install. Do you believe I should or not?
Could I just add another drive and use that to back up on or get an external hd to store it to?
Could I just add another drive and use that to back up on or get an external hd to store it to?
Adding another drive in the same system does not resolve the issue of catastrophic events such as a excessive power surge or theft.
And external drive is probably better, as long as you keep it disconnected from your main rig after you make the back ups and can store it at a secure location.
I do believe that having separate partitions makes life easier. I have two partitions; one for Windows and programs, and one for Data. This way, if Windows gets messed up and you'd need to re-install, you can leave the data partition alone.... so no data loss in such case. Also, having a separate data partition makes your backup job easier
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And external drive is probably better, as long as you keep it disconnected from your main rig after you make the back ups and can store it at a secure location.
I do believe that having separate partitions makes life easier. I have two partitions; one for Windows and programs, and one for Data. This way, if Windows gets messed up and you'd need to re-install, you can leave the data partition alone.... so no data loss in such case. Also, having a separate data partition makes your backup job easier
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Can I partition after os installation?
If you have fully partitioned all available disk space, you can only re-partition it after installing Windows by using an application like Partitionmagic.
Either purchase that software, or do a search if there is some freeware/shareware that does the same. However, since this *could* result in data loss, I'd be careful which software you pick. Partitionmagic is reputable and is well known for this.
Either purchase that software, or do a search if there is some freeware/shareware that does the same. However, since this *could* result in data loss, I'd be careful which software you pick. Partitionmagic is reputable and is well known for this.
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Would I really even need to partition in a raid 1? I would partition only to have my docs seperate from os if os goes bad. I guess that would be another safety valve.
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If I raid 1 and want a partition, will the 2nd partition without the os still be mirrored? Will all of the hard drive be mirrored?
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yes the second hard rive will be an exact copy of the first hard drive and vice versa including partitions.
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So, I go do my partition thing and get the two partitions I want set up and then go in and raid my setup?
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no RAID first then partition
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