A few RAID setup questions:

[nippyjun]

These are my raid 0 questions. I'll be using winme, Iwill KA266-R mobo, 2x 20gig maxtor ide drives..

1. For Raid 0, what block size should I use? Or, if there are other "size parameters" to set, what should they be set at?

2. When formatting the drives do you need to use any special parameters such as:

FORMAT C: /Z:32

Or do you just use a standard format c: /s

If I do need to do a Format C: /Z:32, then do you do this on all partitions or just the C partition?


3. For the 2 drives that I will be using in Raid 0 should each be set as Master on their own channel, or should one be master and one slave on the same channel?

 

[nippyjun]

ttt

 

[nippyjun]

ttt

 

[Deceiver]

1. I used a block size of 16k. I heard there are performance differences on which is better. I think one size is better for certain application. Searching for a topic for 'Raid' should provide you with more answers.

2. I formatted my drive when I loaded win2k. I booted right from the cd.

3. It's best if they are both set to master on two separate IDE channels, although it will work with Master/slave settings with a slight performance hit.

 

[nippyjun]

Thanks for your input. So, the only remaining question is #2 for windows millenium, do you need any special parameters for formatting or do you just use format c: /s

And, why is a block size of 16 preferred?

 

[nippyjun]

I just read through the manuals again. The Raid manual discusses how to set up the Raid Array but then skips partitioning/formatting and goes strait to OS installation. So I still need info on how to format the drives after I partition them with Fdisk.

 

[nippyjun]

I just read through the manuals again. The Raid manual discusses how to set up the Raid Array but then skips partitioning/formatting and goes strait to OS installation. So I still need info on how to format the drives after I partition them with Fdisk.

 

[Deceiver]

I've never used WinME, but if it's anything like Win98 then a format c: /s should work. Or even an format c: would work. What does the /z:32 do?

 

[nippyjun]

the /z:32 formats the disk with a certain block size, for z:32 it's a block size of 16. But I found this for an Abit KT7A guide not an Iwill guide.

 

[Deceiver]

hmm, i thought the block size was determined in bios for the raid card? that's where i set mine to 16k.

 

[shiznut123]

The bios in my BX133-RAID sets my block size. I never knew you could do that when reformatting.

 

[nippyjun]

I may be a little confused (yes I am confused), but in an article I read about the Abit boards with raid, they suggest you choose a block size of 16 in the bios and when you format use the z:32 switch to format the disk to the 16 size block. It makes it seem as if you have to set the 16 in the bios and then use the correct Z parameter to match the bios number (actually it said to use 2 x the bios number as the z parameter). None of this makes sense to me thanks to a skimpy raid manual for my iwill KA266-R mobo. There must be someone here who is an authority on what to do with these numbers and parameters!

 

[rmblam]

I recommend you just use the auto configure feature for the RAID 0 setup. You won't be disappointed. Yes you can get higher benchmarks with some block sizes, but overall HD performance may suffer depending on what applications you use or files you work with. Do a search on that here for more if you need (as mentioned). It has been covered in depth.

Once the RAID array is configured you can then boot to floppy, fdisk, partiton, and format as you would on a single drive. That aspect is the same.

format C: D: or E: is all it takes.

Edit: Yes, both drives as master on each channel. If you use two on one channel (M/S)then one drive may have to wait while the other is accessed.

 

[Hoober]

I didn't have to do anything special to set up Windows ME on Abit KT7-RAID with two 20gig maxtors. Just built the computer, set up the raid array, rebooted and loaded from the CD. Windows ME formated the drives and everything was set.

 

[Zach]

The RAID's block size is probably the size of the chunks that are striped, 16k on drive #1, next 16k on drive #2, NEXT 16 #1, etc.

The other block size is how big the file system of the OS has it's blocks, like FAT32 being 4kb (I think).

I guess hte problem would be if your file system's blocks were bigger than the RAID blocks, you'd be stressing the array more?

 

[nippyjun]

Hi, Thanks for your responses to my Raid questions. I do have one more question. After the Raid Array is configured is this the correct order of things:

1. Fdisk to partition the drives

2. Format C: /s
3. Format D
4. Format E

If this is correct, is using the /s parameter correct for the C drive only?

 

[nippyjun]

I just spoke to Iwill tech support. Suprisingly it was easy to get through, but the guy wasnt' very friendly. He did say that after configuring the raid array, you do an fdisk to partition the drives. Then just format them.

 

[rmblam]

It makes no difference what order you format, just do them all or just the one. I recommend 2 partitions. One for the OS and one for backing up or files. That way you can back up information to the D: drive and reformat the C: for a fresh install or an upgrade etc...

At the A: type Format C:

forget the /s /g/d/t/y/h/u/i/o or whatever already....