Previously Clive said:
I've just installed a Raid card (Raid 1) on my XP Pro system. Happy with the
performance.
What happens if my controller card breaks and I can't get one of the same
type/model. Will either disk boot on it's own from the motherboard IDE
controller? (I had to install drivers for the car)
Try it out! In a sensible design, the admin data for the controller
is written at the end of the disks and the OS does not get to see
that part. If so, the disks work individually with a normal controller.
Linux software RAID, e.g., does this and I have used single disks as
non-raid disks without problem.
However a stupid design may put the admin data at the beginning of the
disk. Then the disks will not run on another controller or s non-RAID,
unless you are lucky.
The admin data is needed so the controller knows which disks are in
the array, how large the array is and whether it is consistent or not.
Needs very little storage, usually just some kBs, but has to be
stored on the disks.
You can just remove both disks and then try one on an ordinary
IDE channel. If it works, great. If not, go for a different
solution or get a spare controller. After the test you should
rebuild the array from the disk you did not use in the test.
Since that is more or less the failure-scenarion, your controller
should be able to deal with it.
Arno
