Adding Storage Drive to Raid 0

chr6

Platinum Member
Oct 1, 2002
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i currently have Windows 7 working great with 2 74gb raptors setup in raid 0 configuration; i bought a storage drive that i would like to add (just for storage), but when i installed it, it is recognized by the bios, but not by windows.

do i have to add this new storage drive to an array of some sort or is there something else i am missing?

thanks in advance.
 
Last edited:

theevilsharpie

Platinum Member
Nov 2, 2009
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If you've connected the new drive to your raid controller, you'll need to configure a RAID volume with your new storage drive before the OS will see it.
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
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I would advise not connecting a data storasge drive to your RAID controller. Partt of the beauty of a separate storage drive is to provide some data security. Connect to your SATA controller or better yet, make it eSATA and divorce it from your RAID 0 array more like a NAS.
 

RadiclDreamer

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2004
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Right click my computer > manage, disk management

If windows sees it, you should be prompted to initialize it and then be able to format
 

chr6

Platinum Member
Oct 1, 2002
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thank you for the replies;

rad- it shows in the bios, but not under disk management; its an ecs 7050m board.

thanks corky, this was my first raid setup so im still understanding all the little things. i did read on another forum that if you set the mode in the bios to RAID, it's either all your drives on the sata are raid or none of them are; so the configuration i wanted is impossible.

i guess another option would be to get a pci sata expansion card and connect the storage drive that way. thanks for all the replies again
 

theevilsharpie

Platinum Member
Nov 2, 2009
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thanks corky, this was my first raid setup so im still understanding all the little things. i did read on another forum that if you set the mode in the bios to RAID, it's either all your drives on the sata are raid or none of them are; so the configuration i wanted is impossible.

I think you've misunderstood what you've read.

Although enabling RAID in your BIOS will enable it for all the ports, most RAID controllers have some method of presenting an individual disk to the host OS. For example, on HP StorageWorks SmartArray you would configure a RAID 0 array with your single disk as a member.

Unless you have a really shitty RAID controller, you should be able to present an individual disk to the OS. You'll just have to consult the manual for your motherboard or RAID controller for the specific procedure.
 

chr6

Platinum Member
Oct 1, 2002
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For example, on HP StorageWorks SmartArray you would configure a RAID 0 array with your single disk as a member.
.

thanks alot, this is definitely something i will try next time; i saw that i could do this in the bios but didnt try it because the drive has data on it, and it wanted to erase the drive before configuring a raid 0 array