SSD + 2 or more Hdd's

astinkybumb

astinkybumb

New Member
[Solved] SSD + 2 or more Hdd's

I am currently configuring a Gaming\VM\forensics rig that i plan to do a SSD for the OS and 2 or more HDDs for data and storage.

Here is the hardware i plan on getting as of now:
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813131754
SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148447
HDD (x2): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697

What i would like to do.
ssd: OS and some games\intense programs
First hdd: other programs and game saves
Second hdd: movies\music\pictures\ other files.

Here is my question. With these selections how would i use the 3 drives (potentially an older 3rd 1tb 5k rpm that i have at home if i dont have to Raid)? I have never used raid, ssd's or more than one drive in a machine and have been researching it but am really confused. Ive heard raid is as fast as your slowest drive and if thats so i wouldn't be able to use my other 5k rpm drive i have at home for speed purposes. I would keep the ssd out of Raid so my boot time is fast. Do i have to Raid the initial 2 hdd (ssd+2hdds) or can i just plug them into the mobo and us them as individual drives and just use win7 backup assist and partition one of the drives to hold back ups?

I have looked at Raid0 and Raid5 however im not happy with either. i dont need the back up capability of Raid0 with win7 backup assist and dont want to lose the 1/nth drive space of Raid5.

Any info/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
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If you want some programs on the SSD, I'd recommend getting a 120GB+ SSD then. Boot time wont be affected with 1 SSD and 2 or more HDD's. You don't need to have the HDDs in Raid either.
 
Like you said, you can use the SSD as C:\. For the 2 new drives you'll need to set them up through the os before you can use them. It's not hard to do and there's an option to change their drive letters if you want. I'd use the 54k drive for backup but keep an eye on it since its older.
 
So what you guys are saying is just plug the hdds into the mobo slots on the side and once installed and recognized by the os they should be usable? No raid needed? well that makes me happy from what i was reading the only way to get more than one drive you had to raid the drives together to work along side each other. so this mobo has up to 7 sata ports does that mean i can have up to 7 drives just plugged in and accessible without raiding them?
 
astinkybumb said:
So what you guys are saying is just plug the hdds into the mobo slots on the side and once installed and recognized by the os they should be usable? No raid needed? well that makes me happy from what i was reading the only way to get more than one drive you had to raid the drives together to work along side each other. so this mobo has up to 7 sata ports does that mean i can have up to 7 drives just plugged in and accessible without raiding them?
Click to expand...

correct. If the drives are empty, you will need to go into disk management and partition them first before windows will see them.
 
Lol you do not need to use RAID if you do not want to.Just plug the hard disk drives in your motherboard (power cable and data cable) and then once Windows OS has recognized both hard disk drives,go into the Disk Management,from there delete all their partitions,create new ones,format them and that's it.

Disk Management looks like this:
iscsi_FAQ_screen1.jpg





Cheers everyone!
 
Ok i had just never heard of multiple drives just being plugged in with out some sort of connecting which i thought was raid. but i will be doing the connecting and letting my os detect them then. thanks alot guys!!
 
Benny Boy said:
Not really a need to format, partition or anything to the ssd and could be better for it not to be. Just let the whole thing be C:\.
Click to expand...

It has to be partitioned and formated to install the OS. Unless your just talking about putting multi partitions on the SSD, if so then correct.

astinkybumb said:
Ok i had just never heard of multiple drives just being plugged in with out some sort of connecting which i thought was raid. but i will be doing the connecting and letting my os detect them then. thanks alot guys!!
Click to expand...

Just like johnb35 said above. Plus no you dont set them up in RAID. Your using them just for storage drives right?
 
SSD or Mechanical, there has to be a Partition plus formated to install a OS. You can pick unallocated space but the OS still partitions and formats the unallocated space before it installs. Cant install a OS without it formated and partioned. The partition marks the begining and end of the drive space and the format sets up the file system as in NTFS.
 
Yes it will. I was speaking for the ease of the TS to understand what they can do with their 3 drives. Just install the os to unallocated space that is the ssd. The hdd's as mentioned many times, need to be partitioned and formatted by him/her.
 
Benny Boy said:
Yes it will. I was speaking for the ease of the TS to understand what they can do with their 3 drives. Just install the os to unallocated space that is the ssd. The hdd's as mentioned many times, need to be partitioned and formatted by him/her.
Click to expand...

But I was stating to the OP that any drives that are blank and didn't have the operating system installed to it would have to be partitioned and formatted before windows would actually see the drive.
 
johnb35 said:
But I was stating to the OP that any drives that are blank and didn't have the operating system installed to it would have to be partitioned and formatted before windows would actually see the drive.
Click to expand...
I haven't said anything to the contrary.
 
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