should i be running RAID?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nikko
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Nikko

I'm looking for advice as to whether I would be better served running my
hard drives in a RAID array. I really don't know much about RAID, so any
advice would be welcome. I have 2 160 GB Maxtor 7200 RPM hard drives (i.e.
they are both the same model). Anyway, the way I them set up now, I use one
as my primary/boot drive, and I use the second one for storage. Every so
often, I just manually copy and paste the folders I want backed up. I use my
rig primarily for gaming. So given that info, what if any of the RAID
set-ups would be best for me? Thanks in advance for your help.

Some system specs, should they matter: AMD 64 3200, 1 GB PC2700 RAM,
Windows XP SP1, Asus K8V Deluxe motherboard
 
I'm looking for advice as to whether I would be better served running my
hard drives in a RAID array... I use one as my primary/boot drive, and I
use the second one for storage. Every so often, I just manually copy...
what if any of the RAID set-ups would be best for me? ...
Click to expand...

I would say that you don't need RAID. There are different kinds of RAID.
The most common ones are:
RAID0 (stripe): speeds up read/write, but doubles chance of disk failure
RAID1 (mirror): reduces (halves?) probability of disk failure; fast read
RAID5 (stripe & parity): reduces probability of failure; slow write (S/W)

The main use of RAID was historically to allow a system (typically server)
to keep on truckin' even if a disk fails. The mirror or hot standby
(depending on configuration) takes over and the system automagically
"reconfigures", if needed. The other use was to speed access, but at the
cost of greater disk vulnerability (lose a slice, lose it all?). There are
combinations with various tradeoffs and benefits. RAID is NOT a substitute
for backups. Google around some, it can be a big topic.

Why do you think you want it?
Some system specs, should they matter: AMD 64 3200, 1 GB PC2700 RAM,
Windows XP SP1, Asus K8V Deluxe motherboard
Click to expand...

Not really.
 
I'm looking for advice as to whether I would be better served running my
hard drives in a RAID array. I really don't know much about RAID, so any
advice would be welcome. I have 2 160 GB Maxtor 7200 RPM hard drives (i.e.
they are both the same model). Anyway, the way I them set up now, I use one
as my primary/boot drive, and I use the second one for storage. Every so
often, I just manually copy and paste the folders I want backed up. I use my
rig primarily for gaming. So given that info, what if any of the RAID
set-ups would be best for me? Thanks in advance for your help.

Some system specs, should they matter: AMD 64 3200, 1 GB PC2700 RAM,
Windows XP SP1, Asus K8V Deluxe motherboard
Click to expand...

It depends...

RAID1 (mirrored) is useful for cases where it's
expensive (either in terms of time, or cost per hour of
lost income) to deal with a failed drive which requires
you to rebuild the box and restore from backups. It's
not a replacement for a good backup strategy (a rogue
application can still destroy the files, which will
faithfully be replicated to both disks).

OTOH, not using RAID and simply using the 2nd drive for
backups is useful because if a rogue app does destroy
data on the primary drive, you can restore the most
recent copy from the 2nd drive.

For a gaming box, I'd go with no RAID at all, but get
drive imaging software so that you can take snapshots of
your configuration. Then, if a game install hoses the
box, you can restore to a previous configuration (and
then restore data files). Be sure to backup data files
using another program. Rsync and Second Copy 2000 are
both good tools (rsync is command line and has a
learning curve, but is free, SC2000 is much nicer to use
but costs a small amount).
 
I'm looking for advice as to whether I would be better served running my
hard drives in a RAID array. I really don't know much about RAID, so any
advice would be welcome. I have 2 160 GB Maxtor 7200 RPM hard drives (i.e.
they are both the same model). Anyway, the way I them set up now, I use one
as my primary/boot drive, and I use the second one for storage. Every so
often, I just manually copy and paste the folders I want backed up. I use my
rig primarily for gaming. So given that info, what if any of the RAID
set-ups would be best for me? Thanks in advance for your help.

Some system specs, should they matter: AMD 64 3200, 1 GB PC2700 RAM,
Windows XP SP1, Asus K8V Deluxe motherboard
Click to expand...

Anandtech says flat out - most people dont need RAID though it seems
popular. Tests seem to indicate no improvement in real world
performance and they say theres more risk of HD failure since if
either HD fails you lose all your data in Raid 0.

All I can say is - after resisting it for ages while it seems like
everybody is using it now , I finally tried it and SUBJECTIVELY it
feels peppier. I dont doubt their tests where they say there is no
benefit in framerates - didnt really expect any , but they claim it
didnt even make any difference in loading Far Cry ! Something I
thought it would help in loading data. They say in aritificial
benchmarks youll see big improvements , in the real world virtually no
benefit for the avg user.

Subjectively like I said it feels peppier so I guess ill keep it and I
sure dont feel like changing things back again too much of a hassle at
this moment. I have two small HDs - two 40 Western Dig raided - raid 0
which is my boot up device and two maxtors 120 gig and 200gig.

Another thing - I installed the maxtor pre-sp1 which doesnt let you
see all the large disks over 120 gig or something. I new that but
couldnt find my sp1 WIN XP disk. Later i repartitioned and formatted
it. Seems like it did something to my maxtor as it was wonky for the
two months Ive had it - some data corruption problems and I
reformatted several times. When I raided my system I redid it and my
200 gig maxtor seemed to go bellyup - all the data disappeared
suddenly and Powermax gave me an error code signalling I should RMA
it. I was about to do that but decided to low level format it for the
heck of it , Since then its been rock solid with no more data
corruption problems.

Ive since made all my XP disks slipstreamed with SP1 and they show you
at various website how to include any extra drivers like Promise or
Highpoint controller stuff into your XP disk so that you dont have to
do the F6 insert floppy thing - which is hard for me to do since I
dont have a floppy disk drive operating at the moment.
 
Ive since made all my XP disks slipstreamed with SP1 and they show you
at various website how to include any extra drivers like Promise or
Highpoint controller stuff into your XP disk so that you dont have to
do the F6 insert floppy thing - which is hard for me to do since I
dont have a floppy disk drive operating at the moment.
Click to expand...

Mind sharing that site showing how to do the slipstreaming?

I've seen a few pages, but never really dug into it. It's somthing I'll need
to do soon.

Thx!
 
Mind sharing that site showing how to do the slipstreaming?

I've seen a few pages, but never really dug into it. It's somthing I'll need
to do soon.
Click to expand...


http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8134&highlight=


I was desperate because I used up all my floppy power connections with
the ATI 9800 which needs one. And I couldnt find an adaptor here at
the time. They now have one at COMPUSA $12 a bit high for just an
adaptor - Ill get one eventually.

Anyway - the link above is the best one I found. I tried to read the
others and they were incomprehensible. This one gives you all the
links to burn the bootable WIN XP after slipstreaming the drivers.
 
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