First time RAID setup

[Cluelessoldtimer]

Setting up a computer for my wife and she just suffered a HD failure (on the old computer). She is terrible about backing up and lost a bunch of photos, etc.

I was thinking of setting up a RAID 1 (mirroring correct?) array for her in the new computer, but have never done this. Can anyone explain it or point me toward a good site?

Thanks!

P.S. Is a RAID array possible on this motherboard, or do I need to get another one?

BIOSTAR TForce965PT LGA 775 Intel P965

 

[Harvey]

If this is your board, the page doesn't show that it supports RAID.

Another approach to the security you want would be to buy a second hard drive about the same size as your current one, install it in a mobile rack and use Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image to clone your drive. This may be better for several reasons:

1. The cloned drive is a full working copy of your current drive. If your main drive dies, transfer the clone drive to the main position, and keep stepping.

2. As long as you're careful to scan your drive for viruses, spyware, etc. before you Ghost it, you're always as good as your last Ghost. If your drive becomes infected or corrupted, just Ghost back from your last good backup. The most you'll lose is any new files, and maybe not that, as long as you can save the new files before restoring from your backup.

3. It takes only minutes to clone a large drive. It takes about ten minutes to clone my 80 GB ATA133 drive and less for my friends to clone their larger SATA drives. On most sysems, it takes longer to do "the three S's" in the morning than to clone your drive.

4. If you use a mobile rack, you can unplug the clone drive when you're done. If you get a viruses, it will be on your RAID partition(s). There is no virus that can jump the air gap. when your backup is unplugged.

5. A Ghost drive doesn't require special setup or formatting so you can read it on any other machine if you need to pull info from the drive.

6. Large drives are cheap. Add $15 - $25 for a mobile rack, and you've got a full backup system for very little money.

All it requires is one spare 5.25" bay for the rack, and you've got it.

Any version of Ghost from 2003 on supports USB and firewire so you could also use an external drive. If you do, I suggest buying a standard drive and a separate external chassis with USB interface that supports the drive you buy (ATA, SATA, etc.). That way, you'll know the make and model of the actual drive and that it works well with your system. Typically, that also costs less than a pre-assembled external drive.

Note -- The above links are for example from a local vendor I deal with regularly. They're avaliable from many sources.

 

[chusteczka]

Yes, RAID is possible for your motherboard. RAID 1 is the preferred setup since it is the safest for your data. The first thing to do is to read the manual that came with your motherboard. RAID drivers may have to be loaded with a floppy disk if you intend to reinstall the whole operating system.

The RAID array is declared, setup, in the BIOS.
Software the northbridge chipset uses to control the RAID array, will partition drives and format the partition(s). This software will be identified in your motherboard manual.

It is best to have two identical hard drives for a RAID 1 mirroring array but two dissimilar drives will also work. Albeit, at the capacity of the smaller and slower drive.

I am not certain if you have lost the data on your drives or not. This data may be recoverable, depending on the type of failure. There are data recovery software programs available for this task.

[*]Data Recovery Programs

• Data Recovery
• TestDisk
• R-Studio
• Runtime's GetDataBack
• Partition Table Doctor
• Spinright
• Ontrack's Easy Recovery Pro
• Quetek
• http://www.active-undelete.com/
• http://www.partition-recovery.com/
• File Scavenger
• HDD Regenerator
• Freeware Data Recovery Tools ***Free***
• Free Tools to Recover lost data ***Free***
• Freeware Restoration ***Free***
• PC Inspector ***Free***
• Smart NTFS Recovery***Free***
• Smart FAT Recovery***Free***
• ACR Data Recovery
• DataRecoveryWizard
• Recover My Files
• Handy Recovery
• Digital Camera Memory Recovery: PC Inspector
• Flash Media Data Recovery
• BadCopy Media Recovery

[*]Rescue Disks

• UBCD4Win
• BartPE
• Insert
• Knoppix
• Hiren's BootCD
• Ubuntu LiveCD

 

[chusteczka]

Originally posted by: Harvey
If this is your board, the page doesn't show that it supports RAID.

Another approach to the security you want would be to buy a second hard drive about the same size as your current one, install it in a mobile rack and use Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image to clone your drive. This may be better for several reasons: ...

Cluelessoldtimer - Please verify that your motherboard has RAID by reading the manual that came with your motherboard. There should be options in the BIOS for RAID, if it is available.

Harvey - How do you keep your drives cool while in a mobile rack? I have used a mobile rack in the past and lost three separate drives due to overheating while in a mobile rack. The rack had a little fan in it. I eventually gave up on mobile racks because of this but I would like to know how to use one properly since they are very advantageous.

Thank you.

 

[RebateMonger]

While RAID 1 can reduce the chance of data loss, it STILL needs to be combined with a separate backup. Get a large external USB drive and set a monthly "backup day" when you hook your PCs to the USB drive and make backups. Once you've done that, THEN consider a RAID 1 array.

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: chusteczka
Harvey - How do you keep your drives cool while in a mobile rack? I have used a mobile rack in the past and lost three separate drives due to overheating while in a mobile rack. The rack had a little fan in it. I eventually gave up on mobile racks because of this but I would like to know how to use one properly since they are very advantageous.

Thank you.

I guess I've been lucky. My mobile rack also has a little fan in it. I also run my machine with the side off the case, and I have a blank space under it in my case. Maybe that's why I've never had a failure due to heat.

After a couple of years, I've had the connectors go bad and had to replace the rack. The first indication of that is much longer transfer times or failure when Ghosting.

 

[Cluelessoldtimer]

Thanks for the help guys, will check the manual when I get home.

"While RAID 1 can reduce the chance of data loss, it STILL needs to be combined with a separate backup. Get a large external USB drive and set a monthly "backup day" when you hook your PCs to the USB drive and make backups. Once you've done that, THEN consider a RAID 1 array. "

Yeah, that is how I do it (though I do it weekly). Have shown my wife how to do it on her computer, and it just never gets done. I could do the backup for her, but I'm stubborn, and lazy (a bad combination)