installing MCE right now, need help!

[excellsior]

I got some questions, wondering if anyone is online right now. my aim handle is: doboye
thanks...

 

[excellsior]

might as well let you know what i wanna know...
i have 2 300gig hd's. i want to be able to backup, but i am clueless as what raid is and does. all i know it has something to do with backup.
also im in the install screen of MCE, and im not sure if i should partition my hd or not....
(when i did my bios, i didnt choose the raid option enable btw..)

 

[stash]

RAID is not backup. Your bios probably has two RAID options, RAID-0 or RAID-1. RAID-0 combines both drives into one volume, and gives you increases performance, but if either drive dies, you lose the data on both drives.

RAID-1 mirrors the first drive onto the second, so if one drive dies, your data is intact. But this should not be seen as a replacement for a real backup.

 

[excellsior]

well i dont think im going to do raid 0
and with raid 1 i cant use the other hd to install games or store music.. its just there to mirror. i think i rather use it for storage and burn dvds for backup.

umm... also do you guys ever partition? is it better to split my 300gig to 100 an 200, or just keep it together and create folders for my music/etc]

 

[jackschmittusa]

Keeping your os and your data separate is handy if you have to wipe the os. Whether you put the os on a separate drive or partition is up to you. A 300gb partition is pretty big for just an os, or even your apps with it. If you are looking for max storage and some safety, I would partition at least the first drive. Sizes depend on whether you want just the os on one, or the apps too. If you have to wipe the os, you have to re-install the apps too, so nothing is gained by having them separate.