About RAID1 hardware selection and recovery

[b4u]

Hi,

I have some questions regarding RAID 1 selection for a small server computer.

1# If a drive fails, the other one will continue to serve. If I replace a drive, RAID1 controller will mirror the good disk to the new one. But what if a disk happens to get some bad sectors? How will RAID bypass the problem, and will it alert me? How am I alerted of such bad sectors and drive failures on a 24/7 system?

2# I was thinking of setting up a RAID1 with 2 Western Digital Raptor 150Gb, 10k rpm, 16Mb cache. Can anyone give me an opinion on this config?

3# If I go for a Asus P5WDG2 WS Professional which has an Intel ICH7R controller (4 x SATA 3.0Gb/s (RAID 0,1,10,5) & 1 x UltraDMA 133/100). How does it perform as a RAID1 system?


Thanks

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: b4u
2# I was thinking of setting up a RAID1 with 2 Western Digital Raptor 150Gb, 10k rpm, 16Mb cache. Can anyone give me an opinion on this config?

3# If I go for a Asus P5WDG2 WS Professional which has an Intel ICH7R controller (4 x SATA 3.0Gb/s (RAID 0,1,10,5) & 1 x UltraDMA 133/100). How does it perform as a RAID1 system?

2. Yes... Ditch the twin Raptors in favor of 4 x 320GB Seagate 7200.10 HDs, in a RAID 0+1 array.
Same $$, Better performance, Far more storage and the Same 5 year warranty. :laugh:

3. It performs as well as any other onboard option.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Originally posted by: b4u
Hi,

I have some questions regarding RAID 1 selection for a small server computer.

1# If a drive fails, the other one will continue to serve. If I replace a drive, RAID1 controller will mirror the good disk to the new one. But what if a disk happens to get some bad sectors? How will RAID bypass the problem, and will it alert me? How am I alerted of such bad sectors and drive failures on a 24/7 system?

More than likely there will be software that accompanies your RAID controller. This software should monitor aspects of the array such as hard drive status, potential failures, S.M.A.R.T. problems, etc...and many RAID programs will even allow remote monitoring, and alerts via email..

bottom line, they won't leave you hanging.

What Blain recommends w/ the 4x320's in 0+1 is great: speed, redundacy, and four times as much storage space. If you gonna spend the $$, do it right!

 

[willtriv]

raid 10 would be best option for his mobo supported modes, but the mtbf of a raptor is about 114 years estimate. Thats like an order of magnitude better than seagate standard drives. If you want better performance though, raid 10 with 4x 320gb gives you more speed and space. I'm assuming power isn't an issue for 2 more drives.

 

[ch33zw1z]

good call will, i didn't notice it said 10. RAID10 will accomplish the same thing!

 

[b4u]

I have a question regarding RAID 10 and RAID 0+1.

Are they the same or not? In some sites I have info that tells me that 0+1 is the same as 10. On some other sites, it states them as different configs.

Because if it's not the same (as I think), then the specified mobo can only do RAID 10.

Thanks

 

[ch33zw1z]

They are not the same:

In a RAID 10(RAID 1+0), you first create two seperate RAID 1 arrays, then you create a RAID 0 using those arrays.

In a RAID 0+1, you do it the opposite.

it essentially accomplishes the same task.

 

[Blain]

RAID 10
RAID 0+1

 

[ch33zw1z]

nice links:thumbsup:

 

[b4u]

Originally posted by: ch33zw1z
nice links:thumbsup:

I copy that! Thanks.

Here is a page that states in the image the opposite, which leads to confusion.

So if a board or controller states that it can RAID 10, it means that it CAN'T do a 0+1 unless explicited stated it can, right? If so, the asus mobo can only do a RAID 10.

 

[Blain]

RAID 0+1 is a very basic type. If your MB supports more exotic RAID arrays, 0+1 should be no big deal.