Help with my disk array

[BoycottValvoline]

Okay let's go down the list,
I have a 74gb Raptor 10k rpm 8mb cache
a 200gb Maxtor, 8mb cache (ATA-133...if that matters)
a 300gb Maxtor, SATA150 8mb cache (maybe 16 not entirely sure)
and a 500 GB Hitachi, 16mb cache SATA300

my current set up is
74GB raptor: XP and programs
200GB maxtor: My Documents, and misc. storage
300GB maxtor: 4 GB Partition for temp files, Rest for video file storage
500GB Hitachi: 4 GB Partition for Page Files, Rest for video file storage

I'm pretty sure the Hitachi is faster than the raptor So i should probably run either programs or XP off of it, I need to get a new hard too because I have a new comp about built that is without one so I'm going to upgrade and take out whatever drive I don't need (note: i don't really care about speed on the new comp)

So what is my optimum set up?

I was thinking of buying another hitachi and maybe setting up a small partition with RAID 1 so I can secure the important files on my comp. I have a few questions about RAID...

1) do I need two have exact same drives to set up a RAID array? Or just same RPM's/interface?

2) can I possibly set up a RAID0 partition and a RAID1 partition on the two hitachi's, so that I could run my OS/programs on RAID0, and another for my important files, perhaps other partitions just for plain storage?

3) you can have a RAID partition and non RAID partition on disks right?

What I think would be my optimum setup is

Dual Hitachi's: Raid0 OS, RAID1 secure files (If I can't do dual RAID then just RAID1)
Hitachi A: video files
Hitachi B: video files
Raptor: Programs
300gb Maxtor: misc storage, my documents

And splitting up Temp files and Page files between the 4 of them wherever would be most optimal.

Sorry for the longish post, thanks in advance to anyone willing to help me out.

 

[Ricemarine]

1. It's not required, but it is recommended. You just need the same RPM/buffer.

2.You cannot do a raid0 and raid1 partition on the hitachis, intead you would need 4 to do a raid 0+1 configuration.

3. No, raid partitions in this case use up your whole disk, for there would be no more useable space.

For optimum, I'd say.

74 gb raptor = XP and programs like you said
200GB+ 300 GB Maxtor = JBOD array, or keep it the way you have now.
500GB HitachiX2 = raid 1.

What you could do is buy a raid 5 pci card (they cost $100....), and get 2 more of the same drives. Then you would have 1000 gb of space while having redundancy if you buy the hitachi 500GB's.

 

[Rob80]

WOW! I've got to ask ~ What in Hell do you need a terabyte of hard drive space. That's a lot of p0rn. :laugh:

 

[BoycottValvoline]

haha, well I guess I don't much anymore, I have like 600 GB of downloaded Movies/TV although I'm dumping them sometime soon and going to DVD's as they don't look good on an HDTV. So I really don't need that much space.

 

[BoycottValvoline]

If I were going to go RAID5 i'd do it with much cheaper drives like these WD250's for almost 1/4th the price.

Say I had three of those on a RAID5 array, then how would i optimally split them up?

RAID5: XP, Progs, Important Storage
Raptor: ??? Maybe Progs here instead, or would that be wasteful?
Hitachi: Storage
300GB Maxtor: ??? Storage

The 200GB Maxtor I'm going to throw in my other machine, or I could throw the raptor in it instead and sell the 200GB to a friend.