Raid 0 and recognize total size in w2k?

[db]

I've been reading threads for 1/2 hour and still not sure what the answer is to my question..
I want to raid 0 two 120G hdds, but am unsure if there will be a problem with w2k (or the raid controller) recognizing a 240gig partition (video editing).
Will probably use Promise 100 TX2 or their TX2000 (more expensive, rather not use if avoidable), if that matters.
Also if it matters, I would prefer to use FAT32 for cross-platform compatibility.
Thanks.

 

[techfuzz]

FAT32 is going to be a problem. Win 2K will not format any FAT32 drive larger than 32GB. Only if you can find some other means of formatting the drive besides Win 2K (such as linux, unix, etc.) will you be able to use FAT32. If somehow you can format the drive as FAT32 with some other OS or third-party program then Win 2k will happily support FAT32 formatted drives larger than 32GB.

MS KB Article - Win 2K & FAT32

Now if you decide to go with NTFS you should not have any problems. Win 2K supports NTFS partitions up to something in the petabyte range. You're not going to be approaching that anytime in the next 5 years with current consumer technology. The OS will handle it just fine.

Your last concern is the RAID card. As long as the card supports volumes that large, which I would think any new card would, then you've got nothing to worry about.

techfuzz

 

[db]

re FAT32, I'm using a 60gig disk now with a single partition that shows 55.8 gig. Maybe I formated it with WD's drive utilities? Can't remember..

 

[chizow]

Unless you are still running programs that require FAT32 (Win98 or previous OS), you should seriously consider making a move to NTFS. Its faster with larger partitions, and overall more secure and stable. Plus, XP or 2K will be able to read your old FAT32 data files, Win98 just won't be able to read your NTFS files. I was running a dual boot system up until about 6 months ago and I'll never go back now. Also, I'm running 2 x 120 8MB Maxtors in RAID 0, WinXP has no problems recognizing the 240GB partition.

Chiz

 

[db]

Thanks.
If I'm working in NTFS drives with audio or video files, and then need to save onto a single *removable* FAT32 drive so it can be read by a Mac or other Windoz machine--can I do that?

edit: I guess I'm confused--is a file a file no matter whether NTFS OR FAT32? Like it doesn't matter if a juicy steak is in a blue room or a red room, it's still the same steak?!

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: db
Thanks.
If I'm working in NTFS drives with audio or video files, and then need to save onto a single *removable* FAT32 drive so it can be read by a Mac or other Windoz machine--can I do that?

edit: I guess I'm confused--is a file a file no matter whether NTFS OR FAT32? Like it doesn't matter if a juicy steak is in a blue room or a red room, it's still the same steak?!

Essentially NTFS is FAT32 with the ability for Windows to apply file and folder permissions. There is some more complicated stuff, but I won't go into it. So to answer your analogy, yes the file is still the same file regardless of which file system you choose. The only difference is the operating systems that can read the file. If you copy the file from an NTFS to a FAT32 drive (CD, other hard drive, Zip, etc.) then the file stays the same, but the security on the file does not copy because FAT32 doesn't support security. It would then be readable by any operating system capable of reading files from FAT32 file systems.

techfuzz

 

[db]

Thank you techfuzz and chizow for your help; you've cleared up a lot of important issues for me