Could I/Should I mirror my old raptors?

[ShadowZERO]

I have 2 old 74GB raptors I'm thinking about setting up in a mirror array. The model numbers shown in Windows XP are as follows:

1: WD740GD-00FLA0
2: WD740GD-00FLA2

The one with the 0 on the end was bought when they first came out, the second about 2 years later. I decided to consider the mirror array because size and speed are not really an issue for the computer they are going into, but data integrity might be.

After I check them for bad sectors(I could use a recommendation on a program that will give me detailed output on that, btw), I might go ahead with it for the computer I'm building. It will be an office system for a family member, so it won't be for gaming or anything. All parts will be new except those 2 drives.

The only difference in those drives is age, all "specs" should be identical. Thoughts/suggestions?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Doing a RAID 1 array with those drives won't be a problem at all. I have several Western Digital RE2 400gb hds in RAID 5 that have no problems, despite being different in model #. As far as checking the drives, the hard drive utilitiy at the Western Digitial website might be able to do that. And don't forget that you'll still need to backup your data.

 

[EarthwormJim]

I did a raid 0 with a first gen 36gb raptor and a second gen 36gb raptor with no problems.

Usually you can mix and match hard drives of different makes and sizes in raid arrays and have things still work. Just you'll be limited by the smallest sized hard drive.