RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

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  • imported_sandman

    #1

    RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

    Ok here's the situation. I have 2 74GB WD Raptors, one is from my old computer, and I just reformatted it. So, my question is, should I put them in RAID0, RAID1, or not use raid at all? I've looked through several benchmark tests on websites and they show that RAID0 barely improves speeds, and RAID1 barely slows them down, but provides better security because it basically backs your info up. They show that the increases/decreases in speed are hardly noticeable, like maybe your computer and programs will load 10ms faster/slower or something. Which setup should I use, and why?
  • Blak_Phoenix

    #2
    Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

    That doesnt sound right... 10ms...

    The improvements are far better than that, alot of people here use RAID 0, including me. RAID 1 is if you have important information on your PC and you dont/cant save it onto DVD/CD's or Tape, or dont have another HD for backing up onto. For performance, go with RAID 0, for security RAID 1, for maximum space, do not use any RAID options.

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    • imported_sandman

      #3
      Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

      Hmm I think I'll just stick with no raid, because I still don't really understand how raid works. What do the diff. raids do exactly? Does 0 split files into two to write it twice as fast or something?

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      • Blak_Phoenix

        #4
        Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

        What do the diff. raids do exactly? Does 0 split files into two to write it twice as fast or something?
        Basially, yes...

        RAID 0 writes to both HD's at the same time, splitting the files up, so half thefile ends up on one HD, the other on the second one. The CPU can then read both HD's at the same time, which th theory, doubles the speed, it doesnt, but it does help alot. But the down side is, if either HD's stop working, you loose all your data as the pc cant work with only half the info of files.. haha... RAID 1 is easy enough to understand, writes the exact same things to each HD.

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        • imported_sandman

          #5
          Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

          Ok I just looked it up (Google is your friend ), and now I'm wondering... why not use RAID5 or 0+1? They're both basically the same and you get the best of both 0 and 1, right?

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          • Blak_Phoenix

            #6
            Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

            I havnt heard of using both RAID 0 and 1 at the same time.. i didnt think that was possible with only 2 HD's.... RAID 5 is good, but you need 3 or more HD's for it to work.

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            • imported_sandman

              #7
              Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

              Alright so in RAID0, when say I download a file to my secondary hard drive... will half of the download be written to my primary one? If so where does it write it to, the same directory only on the other drive?

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              • Blak_Phoenix

                #8
                Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

                In RAID 0 the pc acts and looks like there is only 1 HD. In truth both the HD's are there but it combines them, thus they look as one.. When you write files to the HD, it will put the files half on one half on the other, yes under the same directory's. The layout of the HD's is exactly the same, but the data in them is different.

                Also before i said that no RAID gives you the most space, i was wrong, RAID 0 gives you the same amount as no RAID.

                Did that help at all??

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                • imported_sandman

                  #9
                  Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

                  Hehe kind of... I'm just debating what to do... I sometimes record my gameplay (in other games too) with a tv tuner card in a second computer, but it's a small drive, so I want to store the files on this second drive after I record it. So the problem I see with RAID0 is that when I transfer the file (usually ~20GB for a clan match) from my second computer to this one, it will write 10GB to my main drive and 10GB to my secondary, and I don't want any extra stuff on my main one. But the upside to RAID0 is the performance gain.

                  Or... am I still thinking of it wrong? I already have all my programs and stuff on my main drive, and 11GB of videos, pictures, install files and stuff like that on my second drive. If I put them in RAID0 now, will it automatically split everything up on both drives equally? Does it transform my 2 74GB's into one shared 148GB? Or will it only start doing stuff after I enable RAID0?

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                  • Blak_Phoenix

                    #10
                    Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

                    With RAID 0, there is no primary and secondary drives, yes they are still master and slave, but they act as one. Everything will be split between the two, the OS, games, videos.. etc. You can put partitions into RAID 0, it then splits both HD's into two partitions and uses partition 1 on HD1 and partition 1 on HD s to split files and the same for partition 2 on both HD's. So you can do that and then use partition 1 on both HD's for you OS and games.. etc and prtition 2 n both for you videos.

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                    • imported_sandman

                      #11
                      Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

                      Hmmm ok so it will automatically combine everything I already have on both drives into one double-sized drive. Nice!

                      Now, prepare yourself for a newb question... lol... How do I create another partition that is completely blank, so that I can put only the files that I want to store away onto it? I've never partitioned a drive after having stuff on it before, only with a clean format.

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                      • Blak_Phoenix

                        #12
                        Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

                        OK, the progrtam i use is called Partition Magic, it does the job nicely.

                        Get the trial version here, if you want the full thing you have to buy it. Im not sure what the trial lets you do, bu tits worth a try.

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                        • imported_sandman

                          #13
                          Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

                          Cool, thanks. Couple more fine details... I have to put my S-ATA cables into the raid1 and raid2 plugs on my mobo instead of just sata1 and sata2, right? And, do I have to do anything other than reboot (once I change the cables), set up the raid in my BIOS, and load up my newly-formed 148GB raid drive?

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                          • Blak_Phoenix

                            #14
                            Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

                            Do you have RAID controller? Most new pc's come with one. I don tthink that mobo's had RAID plaugs in them, mine are plugged into the SATA connectors.

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                            • imported_sandman

                              #15
                              Re: RAID - 0, 1, or not at all?

                              Well, beside my 4 SATA plugs there are 4 others called "sata_raid1, sata_raid2, sata_raid3, sata_raid4".

                              Here's a picture... I have them plugged into sata1 and sata2 right now, and the 4 red plugs to the left are the ones that say raid in them.

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