I want to buy two HD?s for my ASUS A7V8X mobo to be set up as Raid 0 devices. I wanted to get two 7200rpm IDE drives. Do the following instructions from the mobo?s user manual rule out IDE drives? Please advise and suggest suitable drives (~80gb). Do I need to get special cables, if so what kind?
INSTRUCTIONS FROM ASUS USER MANUAL
5.4 RAID O/RAID 1 configurations
The motherboard includes the Promise@ PDC20376 controller chipset, two Serial ATA interfaces, and a Parallel ATA 133 interface to support Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) configuration. This feature supports Ultra ATA/133 drives, and is backward compatible with Ultra ATA/ 100/66/33 drives. Use the MBFastTrak376TM BIOS and the FastBuildTM utility to configure a disk array.
RAID 0 (called data striping) optimises two identical hard disk drives to read and write data in parallel, interleaved stacks. Two hard disks perform the same work as a single drive but at a sustained data transfer rate, double that of a single disk alone, thus improving data access and storage.
RAID 1 (called data mirroring) copies and maintains an identical image of data from one drive to a second drive. If one drive fails, the disk array management software directs all applications to the surviving drive as it contains a complete copy of the data in the other drive. This RAID configuration provides data protection and increases fault tolerance to the entire system.
5.4.1 Install the hard disks
The PDC20376 chipset supports Ultra ATA/133/1 00/66 hard disk drives. For optimal performance, install identical drives of the same model and capacity when creating a disk array.
If you are creating a RAID O (striping) array for performance, use two new drives.
If you are creating a RAID 1 (mirroring) array for protection, you can use two new drives or use an existing drive and a new drive (the new drive must be of the same size or larger than the existing drive).
This chipset supports RAID O (striping) or RAID 1 (mirroring) for master drives only.
The Promise PDC20376 chipset only supports one Master HDD on the PRI-RAID1 connector. HDDs set to Slave mode and ATAPI devices such as CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, etc. are not supported.
1. Set the jumpers of each hard disk as Master. 2. Install the hard disks into the drive bays.
3. Connect the HDD cables. Three connection options are available for creating a RAID O or RAID 1 array:
a) Connect one Parallel ATA HDD to PRI-RAID1 connector and one Serial ATA HDD to either one of the two Serial ATA connectors, using separate parallel ATA or serial ATA cables.
b) Connect one Serial ATA HDD to each Serial ATA connector, using separate serial ATA cables.
c) Connect one Serial ATA HDD to the PRI-RAID1 connector, and one Serial ATA HDD to either one of the two serial ATA connectors, using separate parallel/serial ATA cables.
4. Connect the power cable to the power connector on each drive. 5. Boot the system and enter the BIOS Setup Utility.
6. Go to the Advanced menu and select PCI Configuration. Make sure that the Onboard SATA/IDE RAID Controller field is set to Enabled, and the Onboard ATA Device First field set to Yes.
7. Save your changes and Exit Setup.
8. Proceed to section 5.4.2 for the next procedure.
Thanks for helping
INSTRUCTIONS FROM ASUS USER MANUAL
5.4 RAID O/RAID 1 configurations
The motherboard includes the Promise@ PDC20376 controller chipset, two Serial ATA interfaces, and a Parallel ATA 133 interface to support Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) configuration. This feature supports Ultra ATA/133 drives, and is backward compatible with Ultra ATA/ 100/66/33 drives. Use the MBFastTrak376TM BIOS and the FastBuildTM utility to configure a disk array.
RAID 0 (called data striping) optimises two identical hard disk drives to read and write data in parallel, interleaved stacks. Two hard disks perform the same work as a single drive but at a sustained data transfer rate, double that of a single disk alone, thus improving data access and storage.
RAID 1 (called data mirroring) copies and maintains an identical image of data from one drive to a second drive. If one drive fails, the disk array management software directs all applications to the surviving drive as it contains a complete copy of the data in the other drive. This RAID configuration provides data protection and increases fault tolerance to the entire system.
5.4.1 Install the hard disks
The PDC20376 chipset supports Ultra ATA/133/1 00/66 hard disk drives. For optimal performance, install identical drives of the same model and capacity when creating a disk array.
If you are creating a RAID O (striping) array for performance, use two new drives.
If you are creating a RAID 1 (mirroring) array for protection, you can use two new drives or use an existing drive and a new drive (the new drive must be of the same size or larger than the existing drive).
This chipset supports RAID O (striping) or RAID 1 (mirroring) for master drives only.
The Promise PDC20376 chipset only supports one Master HDD on the PRI-RAID1 connector. HDDs set to Slave mode and ATAPI devices such as CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, etc. are not supported.
1. Set the jumpers of each hard disk as Master. 2. Install the hard disks into the drive bays.
3. Connect the HDD cables. Three connection options are available for creating a RAID O or RAID 1 array:
a) Connect one Parallel ATA HDD to PRI-RAID1 connector and one Serial ATA HDD to either one of the two Serial ATA connectors, using separate parallel ATA or serial ATA cables.
b) Connect one Serial ATA HDD to each Serial ATA connector, using separate serial ATA cables.
c) Connect one Serial ATA HDD to the PRI-RAID1 connector, and one Serial ATA HDD to either one of the two serial ATA connectors, using separate parallel/serial ATA cables.
4. Connect the power cable to the power connector on each drive. 5. Boot the system and enter the BIOS Setup Utility.
6. Go to the Advanced menu and select PCI Configuration. Make sure that the Onboard SATA/IDE RAID Controller field is set to Enabled, and the Onboard ATA Device First field set to Yes.
7. Save your changes and Exit Setup.
8. Proceed to section 5.4.2 for the next procedure.
Thanks for helping
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