Intel RAID question

[g00n]

I have a pair of drives in a standard RAID 1 config on a intel 875p based chipset. It uses the "Intel Raid Technology" and I noticed when I formated and installed again the OS wouldnt detect them unless I installed the Intel RAID drivers. However, it is not setup with Intel "Matrix Raid Technology" is it just standard RAID 1 but I assume its intel specific labeling since its using those drivers.

My question is: Will these drives be compatible/detected on a Intel based chipset like the NForce 680i (or 780i). They do support RAID but DO NO support Matrix Tech. Will there be compatibility issues due to labeling etc.? If so, how would you remedy this so they could be read w/out data loss? I know if i get a Intel ICH9R based mobo it should be fine but I'm curious about other mobos.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Each chipset mfg uses their own RAID metadata layout, and they are NOT compatible with each other. You should back up the data on the RAID, and then re-create and re-format the RAID on the new board.

 

[VulcanX]

Virtuallarry, lets say i replace my board and chip for instance, and cross over from Asus m2n sli dlx and 5200+, currently, to a asus p5k 3 for instance with an E7200, is it not possible that Asus have one generic RAID utility, as with mine i just used their utility and it worked like a charm, but will it not maybe carry over to the next mobo and i just have to set a few BIOS settings, or do you always have to resetup your RAID on a new system regardless?

 

[Keitero]

Intel to Intel for the most part I have had no issues with. But YMMV. I had two 160GB Seagate SATA HDs in RAID 1 and moved them from an ICH 7R to an ICH 9R setup without any issues.

 

[jdkick]

It's possible:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=83&threadid=2179231

... but I wouldn't try it without having a solid backup before hand.

 

[g00n]

I will be doing a ICH5R 2 drive RAID 1 migration to ICH9R. I am hoping I can do this without any issue. Otherwise, I would have to back everything up on dvd which would take ages. I was hoping that sticking with an intel controller would allow this.

This board (Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4) does have a "Gigabyte SATA2 chip" which is a JMicron controller as well as the Intel controller but apparently you dont have to use the Jmicron I guess. Anyway, Im wondering what I cant expect trying to pop these existing drives in without any problems.

This article makes ICH5R migration to any new Intel controller (specifically ICH9R) look promising.

http://www.tomshardware.com/re...ON-ADVENTURE,1640.html

 

[lopri]

I have successfully migrated RAID arrays on various ICHR's. (Mostly modern ones - ICHR7, 8, and 9) I wouldn't attempt the same between Intel and NV. It might or might not work, but even if you somehow get it to work it's likely there will be issues popping up in the future. I once migrated NF5 RAID to NF6 RAID, and the result was ugly.

As others say, the importance of backup can't be stressed enough in this case. I would back up the data, and build a fresh array, and just move over the data.

 

[Madwand1]

Yes, RAID is not a standard, so going from one implementation/vendor to a different one is generally risky and not supported, and doing a backup is always a good idea.

However, RAID 1 is a special case, and in many cases, can be treated virtually as a single drive. In other words, some implementations will let you use a single drive from a RAID 1 array as a standard single drive in another system. With this ability, you could try the following sort of migration:

First, confirm that the target implementation supports on-the-fly conversion from a single drive to a RAID 1 array. Check this in detail There are certainly going to be driver dependencies and probably BIOS settings issues.

Then take a single drive off the source RAID 1 system, install it into the second system, and confirm that it's recognized fine. Then ensure that the necessary RAID drivers are installed in the OS.

At this point, having a backup would be a really good idea...

Now take the second drive, and install it into the new system, and invoke RAID migration from a single drive to a RAID 1 array. Be sure that you don't get confused about the drive ordering and migrate from the wrong drive (the one without the OS reconfiguration / drivers, etc). Again, having a backup would be really nice.

Alternatively, you might just consider abandoning RAID 1, installing the second drive in an external enclosure, and scheduling periodic backups. External backups are logically superior to RAID 1, because they'll survive a greater variety of failures. Of course, the weakness is that it requires you to actually do the backups, and your changes from the time of the last backup aren't backed up -- this is where RAID 1 can be handy, after a real backup.

 

[g00n]

Ok, this is going to sound incredibly noobish, BUT: If its already been pretty much confirmed that a Intel ICH5 to ICH9 migration works fine (see article I linked above), then why cant I just install both original drives from the raid 1 array as normal, install OS on the 3rd, clean OS drive; install raid drivers and boom, detected? In this current setup I installed a new seperate OS drive a while back and it didnt even see my raid drives but once I installed the latest drivers for my ICH5 mobo it was fine. Why do I have to do it one at a time as you suggest?

Thanks

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: g00n
If its already been pretty much confirmed that a Intel ICH5 to ICH9 migration works fine (see article I linked above), then why cant I just install both original drives from the raid 1 array as normal, install OS on the 3rd, clean OS drive; install raid drivers and boom, detected?

Sorry, I was responding mostly to the original post, which was asking about going from Intel to nVIDIA. If you're done with that idea and sticking with Intel, then it'll probably work just fine as you say.