General questons about RAID

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dave Neve
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Dave Neve

Hello

I have read a few articles on RAID and I have some general questons

As RAID should ideally be set up before HD's are partitioned and formatted,
I assume this means before Windows is installed.

But the software interface used to configure RAID only runs on Windows.

How is this resolved?

Also, if you have a perfect RAID copy of your HD with the O/S installed on
it, can this be used as a second bootable HD?

Finally, I assume that programs which you install after the RAID is set up
are also copied to the other HD(s)

But if there is a program which crashes, it must be very hard to know which
part of the program is defective and to be able to replace it with a good
file.

So is Raid only really suitable for data storage or can it be used for
system recuperation?

Hope these questions make sense as I am not really clear about things
myself.

Thanks in advance

Dave Neve
 
Most pcs run RAID with 2 identical hds,once the BIOS is set for RAID,you
configure the 2 in a RAID utility that runs after the BIOS.Once
configured,you'd
boot to xp cd,press F6 to install RAID controller drivers,then continue on
to
install xp,at xp cd boot screen,install as any IDE drive,it'll
format,partition both.
RAID runs as any IDE drive,it can/could be used as storage,but why,use IDE
for
that,also,why spin the two at 7200 or 10 or 15,000 rpm every minute just to
"store" from an IDE hd running at 7200 rpm with a transfer rate of 100,RAID
min is 150 BPS...
 
Responses in body;
As RAID should ideally be set up before HD's are partitioned and formatted,
I assume this means before Windows is installed.
Click to expand...

Assuming hardware raid, ie via a mobo raid controller, and mirror raid.

If mirror raid you can install on a single hd, prior to initiating the
mirror on the 2nd hd. It does however depend on the controler and you being
able to identify which hd to mirror.
Usually in a mirror you set it up when installing win, you may have to use
the F6 option during the installation process to copy raid/sata drivers from
*floppy* during the process. On reboot you access the raid utility via a
keybd sequence during the post operation to initialise/create the mirror.
However the *exact* process depends on your mobo/controler eg you may have
to enable raid in the sys bios.
RTFM
NB if you stripeing raid it has to be set up at installation
But the software interface used to configure RAID only runs on Windows.

How is this resolved?
Click to expand...

It runs prior to win booting, as above
Also, if you have a perfect RAID copy of your HD with the O/S installed on
it, can this be used as a second bootable HD?
Click to expand...

Only by disconnecting the other half of the mirror, ie both hd's are
affectively C, the boot disk
Finally, I assume that programs which you install after the RAID is set up
are also copied to the other HD(s)
Yes

But if there is a program which crashes, it must be very hard to know which
part of the program is defective and to be able to replace it with a good
file.
Click to expand...

If there is a problem with an app, there is a problem with the app,
providing the mirror is in sync the problem is universal to the app, and not
differentiated by hd
So is Raid only really suitable for data storage or can it be used for
system recuperation?
Click to expand...

It can be a redundant sys, data or boot

NB raid via a raid controler pci card is different in its workings to mobo
raid
 
Ok

But what exactly is mobo.

I've been onto some sites but stilol can't quite work it out.

Is it hardware to do the same job?

Thanks

Dave
 
Dave said:
Ok

But what exactly is mobo.

I've been onto some sites but stilol can't quite work it out.

Is it hardware to do the same job?
Click to expand...

"Mobo" is slang for "motherboard".

Malke
 
I have read a few articles on RAID and I have some general questons

As RAID should ideally be set up before HD's are partitioned and formatted, I
assume this means before Windows is installed.

But the software interface used to configure RAID only runs on Windows.

How is this resolved?
Click to expand...

There should be a BIOS for the RAID controller that is accessible before
booting, similar to the motherboard BIOS Setup screens. For example, the
Promise RAID controller uses Ctrl-F (for their "FastTrack" firmware) to access
the RAID controller BIOS.

In some servers, the OS is set up on a separate non-RAID drive, then the data
system is set up on the RAID controller. This is not common on current consumer
systems, though.

Also, if you have a perfect RAID copy of your HD with the O/S installed on it,
can this be used as a second bootable HD?
Click to expand...

Some times, but only with RAID 1.

RAID 0 is a "stripe" across 2 physical drives for performance. Neither drive is
accessible alone -- if 1 fails, you lose all data. Therefore it is not suited
to most home systems.

RAID 1 is a "mirror" for data integrity -- each physical drive has an exact
copy. If one fails, the other can be used to boot the system. When the failed
drive is replaced, the RAID controller will rebuild the mirror. It is becoming
more common on consumer systems.

RAID 10 is a combination of RAID 0 and 1, but requires 4 or more drives.

RAID 5 uses a combination of striping and a CRC or other check entry, and needs
a minimum of 3 physical drives. If any one drive fails, the RAID controller can
rebuild the data from the remaining drives. It is usually used in servers for
data.

Finally, I assume that programs which you install after the RAID is set up are
also copied to the other HD(s)

But if there is a program which crashes, it must be very hard to know which
part of the program is defective and to be able to replace it with a good
file.

So is Raid only really suitable for data storage or can it be used for system
recuperation?
Click to expand...

See above, regarding the different RAID schemes.
 
Hello

I have read a few articles on RAID and I have some general questons

As RAID should ideally be set up before HD's are partitioned and formatted,
I assume this means before Windows is installed.

But the software interface used to configure RAID only runs on Windows.

How is this resolved?

Also, if you have a perfect RAID copy of your HD with the O/S installed on
it, can this be used as a second bootable HD?

Finally, I assume that programs which you install after the RAID is set up
are also copied to the other HD(s)

But if there is a program which crashes, it must be very hard to know which
part of the program is defective and to be able to replace it with a good
file.

So is Raid only really suitable for data storage or can it be used for
system recuperation?

Hope these questions make sense as I am not really clear about things
myself.

Thanks in advance

Dave Neve
Click to expand...

Several RAID management interfaces are now written in Java. You only require a
Java-enabled browser. Several hardware raid manufacturers are providing
bootable CDs based on a Linux distribution.
 
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