Raid 0?

[hushypushy]

well i was thinking of getting a RAID card (http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3412853) so i could hook up another CD-ROM drive to my computer and also another hard drive (soon down the line, a DVD+/-R as well). i also hear about RAID 0....

any suggestions on this? if i got this i would want to RAID 0 my current D drive and the new drive i would be putting in...is this a recommended thing? or would i take too much of a hit in hard drive performance?

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[Kane]

RAIDing doesn't drain performance (if anything it improves it), however cheap cards tend to be a little unstable. I wouldn't have your boot partition on one.

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[hushypushy]

however cheap cards tend to be a little unstable.

what do you mean by that, exactly?

i honestly dont care about my boot drive. i reformatted 3 times last month, so im fine about that.

what i really care about is my other stuff. i have about 80 GB of files on my D drive (which is 120 gb) and im thinking about putting my 80 GB drive on that as a RAID 0 (and then using a 30 gb drive as my boot).

i just need the assurance that my good stuff (those 80 gigs) will be ok, and that a RAID 0 is to be trusted.

by the way, i've talked to/worked with guys that work in the computer lab at IBM, and they are the ones who fix all the computers for the company. one of the guys there told me that he doesnt trust hard drives about 50 GB (because they pack too much info on too little platter space) yet he still recommends those drives to the company because they keep his job .....(my point of that long winded story is that i want the RAID 0 to be as reliable as can be for big, Seagate drives)

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[Kane]

Originally Posted by hushypushy

what do you mean by that, exactly?

i honestly dont care about my boot drive. i reformatted 3 times last month, so im fine about that.

what i really care about is my other stuff. i have about 80 GB of files on my D drive (which is 120 gb) and im thinking about putting my 80 GB drive on that as a RAID 0 (and then using a 30 gb drive as my boot).

i just need the assurance that my good stuff (those 80 gigs) will be ok, and that a RAID 0 is to be trusted.

by the way, i've talked to/worked with guys that work in the computer lab at IBM, and they are the ones who fix all the computers for the company. one of the guys there told me that he doesnt trust hard drives about 50 GB (because they pack too much info on too little platter space) yet he still recommends those drives to the company because they keep his job .....(my point of that long winded story is that i want the RAID 0 to be as reliable as can be for big, Seagate drives)

I bought a 25 quid RAID card for my machine a while back and when I had it as my boot drive, I had blue screens and occasionaly all the data on the drive would just go. Kaput. Gone
Hence why it's not in the Linux box being used as a normal IDE card with Linux based software RAID over the drives attached.

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[hushypushy]

oh...hmm.....

basically, cheap = crap, and that cheap little raid card (which is about the same price as yours was) is going to totally screw me over?

EDIT: in that case, could you, in your vast wisdom, recommend me a brand/type of RAID?

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[Kane]

Well if you can do software RAID by any means it's OK to get these cards as a pure IDE controller however, were I buying a RAID card for being a RAID card now, I wouldn't get anthing that costs less than US$100

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>Site Live<
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Celes: (Desktop) Phenom II X4, 4Gb DDR2, GeForce 8800 GTS 320Mb, 32Gb OCZ Vertex SSD, 500Gb RAID HDD, Windows 7 Home Premium
Erika: (MCPC) Revo3610, Windows 7 Home Premium
Kimiko: (Craptop) HP Mini 210

[hushypushy]

alright now i think we are on the same page. the link at the top of the page is to an IDE controller with a software RAID.

therefore, the PCI IDE controller and the software RAID (a la linux?) should be 100% reliable?

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[Kane]

therefore, the PCI IDE controller and the software RAID (a la linux?) should be 100% reliable?

Yeah, it'll be fine. Software RAID cards simply use the CPU to di the work rather than having an onboard controller from what I understand.

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Erika: (MCPC) Revo3610, Windows 7 Home Premium
Kimiko: (Craptop) HP Mini 210

[Ali]

If u want to put two harddrives on Raid, then it is recommended that both are of same capacity, even the same brand.
I was thinking of setting this up myself, since I'v got a Prmoise Raid builtin on my mobo. Software Raid that is.

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[hushypushy]

Originally Posted by Lord Kane

Yeah, it'll be fine. Software RAID cards simply use the CPU to di the work rather than having an onboard controller from what I understand.

ok, thanks, now im reassured

Originally Posted by Ali

If u want to put two harddrives on Raid, then it is recommended that both are of same capacity, even the same brand.

well im planning on putting my Seagate 120 GB (8mb buffer) with a Seagate 80 GB (2mb buffer).....it seems fine to me

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[hushypushy]

ok i decided to make another post because this is another idea:

am i going to lose any data when i use the software to RAID 0 my 2 drives? do i need to reformat both my drives to do this....?

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[Kane]

Yes you need to have both drives blank to do it. Only Linux' ReiserFS can add drives to a RAID without formatting IIRC

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>Site Live<
Pop over to my site for help with setting up PSX emulators.
Help for the Final Fantasies and other RPGs avalaible
Celes: (Desktop) Phenom II X4, 4Gb DDR2, GeForce 8800 GTS 320Mb, 32Gb OCZ Vertex SSD, 500Gb RAID HDD, Windows 7 Home Premium
Erika: (MCPC) Revo3610, Windows 7 Home Premium
Kimiko: (Craptop) HP Mini 210

[hushypushy]

damn that's what i suspected. i guess my dreams of huge pretty RAID are crushed....oh well i guess ill just have 3 separate hard drives

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