Raid 1, non OS

G

Gabe63

New Member
Can you set up a raid 1 array with (2) 1tb drives as a non-OS? I was thinking this might make sense to store photos since it would automatically back up the informaiton.

If this is possible, besides the cost of the drives and space used in the computer, what are the down sides?
 
That's a good question. I set up my 4 disk RAID array, (0+1), through the BIOS prior to installing the OS. Then when installing the OS I loaded the RAID drivers to allow the OS to recognize the array. But, I didn't attempt to leave an additional drive out of the array. It can get complex setting up a single array. I imagine it could get much more complex attempting to setup a RAID array as a storage drive and a non-RAID drive as a boot drive. It may be possible though. One thing I will say is that a mirrored array is not as secure as a regular backup routine. I had a PSU failure that scrambled my 0+1 array and was unable to recover the data off the mirrored drives. I've since gone to SSD + a single storage drive and now backup regularly.
 
Gabe63 said:
Can you set up a raid 1 array with (2) 1tb drives as a non-OS? I was thinking this might make sense to store photos since it would automatically back up the informaiton.

If this is possible, besides the cost of the drives and space used in the computer, what are the down sides?
Click to expand...

Yes you can RAID 1 just data drives, but really why would you do that? RAID 1 is not a 'back up' technology more of it is a 'no down time' technology. If you get corruption, file system problems, a virus, or whatnot it is mirrored to the drive automatically. You are best off just getting another drive to back up for data rather than go through the trouble of running RAID 1.

Just my opinion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top