RAID 1 advice

pbdr

pbdr

New Member
I recently had an HDD fail. I was able to recover some of the data, but not all. It was aslo a big pain in the crapper to get everything set up once again.

Now I want to use RAID 1 to make sure that this will (most likely) never happen again.

Problem is I wasn't thinking about all this when I set up my newest system.

My current HDD is IDE; for obvous reasons I want to use SATA connections for my new drive(s).

Question 1: Can I RAID 1 an IDE and SATA drive?

The aim would be ato "clone" the first drive using RAID 1 and then set up a second, identical SATA drive so I have two matching SATA drives inthe RAID 1 configuration.

Question 2: My MOBO (ASUS A8N5X) supports 1.5 gb/s SATA, can I use a 3.0 gb/s SATA drive?

If the above scheme is not going to work, what options do I have to prevent the need to re-install every piece of software I have and transfer all data manually?
 
RAID is not your only option for keeping identical data on a second drive. You could fit a second drive then buy 'Norton Ghost' (pref the 2003 version which runs is DOS) and use it to create an 'image' of your Windows drive on to the secondary drive.

Unlike RAID, however, the image can't update itself to keep in sync with new data, but all you need to do is create a new image every couple of weeks. You would also be able to use the second drive for saving other stuff as well as the disk image, something you wouldn't be able to do if it was installed as RAID.
 
doesnt raid 1 just share installs between 2 hdds i dont think it backs up the hdd if anything raid 1 is less stable than a ide drive because you are using 2 drives to do one job so if one craps out you lose everything there is a raid that backs up to another drive but im not sure which it is you will have to read the stickys
 
pbdr said:
Question 1: Can I RAID 1 an IDE and SATA drive?

Question 2: My MOBO (ASUS A8N5X) supports 1.5 gb/s SATA, can I use a 3.0 gb/s SATA drive?
Click to expand...

1: as far as i know, no. but you could get a IDE to SATA connector and have the drive pretend its SATA then RAID it with a SATA drive, just make sure the specs are the same (cache, RPM, ect...) but even then i doubt it would work, just go pick up two 200GB SATA II harddrives, they are pretty cheap at the moment...

2: yes, you need to set a capping jumper on the back and it will work
 
I am looking to use RAID 1 (this is the mirroring setup) as opposed to other backup methods, just for the ease of use. I.e. once it's setup, you basically have a very good backup method running constantly (also, Norton Ghost is a pain in the ass...)

From Ku-Sama's reply it appears that I can't really set up RAID 1 with an IDE and SATA drive (I want to go for a 200 gb SATA drive and use it for a while).

Next question: Is it possible to clone an IDE HDD to an SATA HDD?

This way I could clone my existing HDD onto an SATA drive, then us that to set up the RAID configuration.

Plausible?
 
When you create a RAID you destroy data on the drives. RAID 1 also slows performance as every bit of data is written at the same time on both drives.

Set up the RAID via RAID utility (the raid bios) and then load the OS and all the applications. In the OS you will only see one drive because the other one is constantly being written to, to keep exact clone of the other drive.

If one drive fails, replace it and use the RAID utility to rebuild it.
 
meanman said:
doesnt raid 1 just share installs between 2 hdds i dont think it backs up the hdd if anything raid 1 is less stable than a ide drive because you are using 2 drives to do one job so if one craps out you lose everything there is a raid that backs up to another drive but im not sure which it is you will have to read the stickys
Click to expand...

You're thinking of RAID 0, which splits the data up between multiple drives. RAID 1 copies everything, so if one drive fails, you have another backup.
 
Ku-sama said:
yeah, but i would just get the two drives up front, then RAID them, then copy the harddrive to it...
Click to expand...

Sounds like a the best way to go (kind of my thoughts fromt he get-go, but I like to check with the gestalt intelligenc before I try something.

The remianing question is how to copy the existing HDD to the RAID Setup?

I don't really like Norton Ghost all that much (I have an older version). I recently did this using Apricorn easy gig (to clone my laptop HDD onto a 5400 rpm HDD), but I think that required a USB connection (I think).

Any suggestions?

Peter
 
How a RAID works in its design will make you wipe both drives (or more) when initially setting it up. Back up your data and start from scratch is the best way to do this.

You want both drives to be totally indentical.

Ghost is not a bad application at all, and if you are going to use newer hardware (ie SATA) I suggest you look into it.
 
tlarkin said:
How a RAID works in its design will make you wipe both drives (or more) when initially setting it up. Back up your data and start from scratch is the best way to do this.

You want both drives to be totally indentical.

Ghost is not a bad application at all, and if you are going to use newer hardware (ie SATA) I suggest you look into it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, can I connect the SATA drives into my current system, running from the IDE drive, RAID the 2 SATA drives, then use ghost to clone the existing IDE drive to the RAID drives?

I think theproblem with this would be potential OS conflicts on restart correct? Can a get aropund this by simply unhooking the IDE after the clone?

Sorry fore the multiple questions, but I just want to make sure I don't %$^%#^ something up here.
 
yes that is possible, but I would make back ups of your data first before doing anything. The cloning should work technically, but if you have any preexisting problems, software corruption, or anything else you will be imaging them on to your new RAID configuration.

Which is why I recommend you build it from scratch then create a back up image with Ghost, that way it is up to date, clean install, and highly reduces the risk of copying over any software issues.
 
tlarkin said:
yes that is possible, but I would make back ups of your data first before doing anything. The cloning should work technically, but if you have any preexisting problems, software corruption, or anything else you will be imaging them on to your new RAID configuration.

Which is why I recommend you build it from scratch then create a back up image with Ghost, that way it is up to date, clean install, and highly reduces the risk of copying over any software issues.
Click to expand...

I think I'm nopt entirely clean on what you just suggested, sorry:o

Are you suggesting I can do the Ghost clone onto the SATA or saying I should do a clean install and then re-backup using Norton Ghost?

The software should be fairly satble, since the syetm has only been running for a few months since it was built.
 
A hard drive is a hard drive whether it be SCSI, IDE, SATA, etc. You can load an image on any drive and make it the boot drive as long as there is support for it. In your case you are going to be booting off of a SATA RAID controller, so you are going to need proper drivers installed for it to work properly. In most case scenerios this will work natively (plun n play) however it may not always be the case. Which is why I suggested have a back up just in case.

Once you create an image file of the OS, you can boot of the Ghost CD, which will load drivers for your SATA RAID, and then copy whatever image you want over. It will work, it just may not be 100% stable.

So, yes your plan will work, it just may not be 100%, ie there is a chance of failure.

I hope this answers your questions.
 
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