Raid1?

[=98=]

So, i have a RAID0 setup and then a 400gb disk for data. However, it's getting quite old and is starting to rattle and click a bit.

So, i want to buy a second 400gb drive and create a RAID1 array for redundancy. How would i do this?

Do i have to completely format my old drive first, then set RAID up in the BIOS, or can i just plug in the new HD, select RAID1 and it'll automatically copy across data?

Secondly, how does it copy across data? I assume its' not done in windows as RAID is a BIOS feature. So would i just set up Raid1, and then it'll copy the contents before booting Vista?

Lastly, my motherboard has 4 red plugs, and two black. Now, my RAID0 setup only worked if both drives were plugged into those black plugs, and then the separate 400gb disk into one of the other red plugs. Does this mean i can only have one RAID setup at a time?

Thanks,

Alex

[TheSpark29]

Hi Alex, I think you're in luck. :)

Your Southbridge is the ICH8R, which supports many RAID levels natively. I would assume that the color of the SATA connectors do not matter because the mobo supports RAID 5, which requires 3 drives at the minimum. I can't verify this, but it is logical. I also can't figure out why those two connectors are black to begin with... :hmm:

Anyways, You need to look into Intel's Matrix Storage Technology. IIRC, there's a program you can download for Windows. As for migrating, I'm not sure how "automatic" this is. I've only used the program once to migrate a RAID 01 array to RAID 5. I did this in Windows. I'm not sure if/how migration is supported for other RAID levels.

My advice would be to backup your 400GB drive, Create the RAID 1 array, then restore your data.

This way, if your data is automatically transferred, wonderful! If not, you just restore the image.

I'm sorry if I wasn't able to answer your questions directly, but I hope this gives you a start.

[Warhawk]

I believe for raid you have to start with a formatted disk. Reason for this is because I don't think there is actually any copying. Whatever is written to the first hard drive is also written to the second hard drive.

As for the plugs not working make sure you have the raid option enabled on all sata ports. By Default my "nVraid" is enabled on my first 2 plugs and my second 2 plugs are not enabled for raid.

[=98=]

Yea, all my RAID options are set up correctly, i'm just slightly confused about the different ports, but i was thinking, if they don't RAID properly, i can still just use an imaging program to create a backup onto the spare drive every week manually.

For RAID1, i believe all the work has to be done sort of BIOS level, not in Windows. I have Intel Matrix Storage Manager, but, as Warhawk says, i think it needs two completely formatted disks from the start.

One more question. If i bought a 500gb drive, and created a RAID1 with my 400gb drive, do i lose that extra 100gb or does it show as a separate partition?