Converting Over to RAID 0

[UTmtnbiker]

I'm looking to convert over to RAID 0 in the near future, but was wondering if there is a way I can save my data that I currently have or if I'm going to have to do a clean wipe of everything and start over.

Here's what I have

1 x Maxtor 80GB 2mb cache liquid bearing drive with about 60GB on C: and 20GB on D:
1 x Hitachi/IBM 80gb 2mb cache drive with nothing on it and is my G: drive

The C: partition has been a OS only partition (don't ask why I made it 60GB, I don't know why either)
The D: partition has all of my program files on it (don't ask why I made my program partition so small...all I can say is with PowerQuest's program, I always told myself I could make it bigger)
The G: drive used to have a Linux partition on it but I've since converted it over to Windows NTFS

I know once I get a RAID card, I'll have 160GB of much faster performance but was hoping I wouldn't have to spend hours reloading everythign on to my HD's. Any suggestions on being able to save eveything I have or is it all a loss and a fresh install is called for?

TIA.

 

[aka1nas]

Well you could try ghosting the partition maybe if you plan on partitioning the 160GB array the same way. Other than that, I'd just do a backup of your data and copy it back over when you reinstall windows.

Also, just to let you know, you may have some problems running a RAID 0 array on non identical drives like the two 80GB drives you have. Are their spindle speeds the same?

 

[StraightPipe]

I dont think ghost is going to work, it has to leave the backup file somewhere (ujless it's small enough to fit on a CD)

Also I wouldnt recommend using RAID0 unless you have a 3rd drive to run normally. Promise (on of the biggest RAID card manufacturers) recommends not putting your OS on a RAID array, but they do reccomend putting your page file on it. (you might notice another thread around here buy a guy who had his OS on RAID, and is complaining about how slow his boot up is). also you wont want to use partitions.

also having the 3rd drive is ideal beacuse you can use it to backup any sensitive data you dont want to lose if one of your drives was to crash. RAID does NOT make your drives more likely to fail. but if ther should be a problem on one of them (ie: bad sectors, drive failure...) then you will lose all data on both drives.

one other bad thing about RAID is that you can usually on do one write at a time (if you try to do multiple writes it will give you an err.)

but if you have a 3rd drive you can live with all this, if not, I wouldn't recomend the RAID. you'd probly be better off with regular drives (although you might want to change that partition)

 

[aka1nas]

I'll have to actually second straightpipe on the 3 drive option. I usually do that in my RAID rigs as well. If you don't want to buy any extra drives, I'd suggest that you forego the RAID for now.

Hope all this helps,
aka1nas

 

[UTmtnbiker]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll probably hold off then until another smokin' HD deal comes along on in Hot Deals.

 

[RollWave]

I have two SATA150 Seagates (120GB each) running in Raid 0 with my onboard P4C800 Deluxe Mobo promise control and it has worked seamlessly. I havent had any slow boot ups and I have quite a bit of memory on my harddrives. Its AMAZINGLY fast and these seagates dont make any noise compared to WD Raptors...BAAADDD experiences with those...