New to RAID, got any tips for KT7-RAID

[Dizway]

Got my new 900mhz Tbird and waiting for my KT7-RAID. I've read some info on RAIDs but still a little confused. I want to improve overall system performace my utilizing the RAID feature. I'm not worried about backing up or data security. Anyway, here is my current system info using P3 500mhz and asus p2b-f... can someone give me some tips on which drive to put on which ide controller since there are 4 on the KT7 board. And what RAID setting do you recommend?

Maxtor 20gig 7200/ata33 (3 partitions C: F: G
IBM 10gig 5400/ata33 (2 partitions D: H
Fujitsu 6.5gig 5400/ata33 (E
Toshiba 2x DVD

To use the RAID feature do I need to fdisk any of these drives and put it back to 1 partition? My IBM and Fujitsu drive is used for data storage from downloads and for games. But Maxtor C: is for my OS and F: and G: are for applications. So i'd like to keep the Maxtor drive partitioned if possible.

The rest of my system also includes:

GF2 GTS 32MB AGP
WinTV FM/Stereo
SB Live! Value
Adaptec SCSCI PCI
Smart&Friendly 8x CDR
Plextor 40x CDROM
Linksys 10/100 NIC
USR Courier ISA modem
196MB PC100 RAM

Please give me some tips b4 I crash into putting my new system in. I'd like NOT to format after I put in the new combo, but if I have to then I have to... but thanks in advance for any info.

Dizway

 

[gimps]

I'll explain this as easily as I can ;p
Ok, to use ANY type of RAID, you need 2 HDs minimum. If you want to utilize RAID-0 (striping), you need 2 HDs of the same brand, size, speed, etc. Otherwise, you'll lose some of that space. For example, you have a 10 gig and 20 gig. If you use RAID-0, you will lose 10 gigs off that 20 gig. And yes, after you set up the RAID, you will need to fdisk and format, so that your computer can use the RAID setup.
With RAID-0, you can gain some performance. Not a lot though, especially in Win98. The only gain you will see, is that Windows will load a bit faster, and loading levels in your games will gain some performance.
With RAID-1 (mirroring), you also need 2 of the same size drives. It will be seen as one drive, and files will be copied onto both drives. You will lose some performance here, while saving large files and whatnot, because of the fact that is has to copy files onto both drives.
RAID-0+1 (mirroring+striping), you need 4 drives, and will get the best of both worlds. All 4 drives need to be the same size, or you will lose some space. Files will be copied off 2 drives when loading, and will be saved to 2 drives. (correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know all that much about RAID really ;p )
With the KT7-RAID with built-in HPT370 RAID controller, you also have the option of the JDBO (I think) mode (also called spanning). It is basically like Striping mode, except you do not gain any performance. And for that mode, you also do not need the same size drives. It will add both sizes of the drives to one. So in your example, it would be shown as 1 30 gig drive.
So the RAID setting is all what you want. But, since none of your drives are the same size, I would recommend JDBO. But, as in all cases, you do need to re-partition and re-format the drives.
Also, FYI, you do NOT have to set up a RAID config to use the IDE3&4 (the RAID connectors). It will also act as an ordinary IDE controller, except that it supports up to ATA100, whereas the main IDE controller only supports ATA66.
Also, just to let you know, I'll give you some tips when setting it up (I have the KT7-RAID also).
To save some headache, check to make sure the speed at which ALL drives are (PIO 0-4, UDMA 0-4). The HPT370 controller can auto-detect that, but it does not work as well. You still need to manually set those. And DO NOT connect CD-drives to it. Even though HighPoint says that the controller can utilize ATAPI/IDE devices (CD-drives, ZIP, etc), it does not work correctly in Windows.
If you need any more help with it, or have any questions, don't mind emailing me @ gimp@subdimension.com

I hope this enough for ya.

 

[Dizway]

hey there...
thanks for the good info. more than likely i will not be able to use the RAID feature until i get new hard drives. i was thinking of getting 2 10 or 20 giggers soon. In the meantime i'll just mess with the rest of the features. thanks again...

Dizway