raid 0 on WD Raptor safe?

[User1001]

Is it safe to use raid 0 on the 10k rpm raptor for a very long period of time (3-4 years)? If so, how do I set it up if one of the drives has data?

 

[bozo1]

Raid-0 is never safe. You MUST make backups because eventually one drive, the controller, or the array itself will fail and your data will be toast. Raid-1 is safer but you still need backups because eventually, you will need them.

And no, when you initially create an array, all your data is lost. You have to backup, create the array, format it, then restore your data.

 

[beatle]

No, nothing is safe! Raid 0 isn't all its cracked up to be, really.

 

[EeyoreX]

RAID0 is really no more or less safe than anything else. The way to measure "safety" would really be in measuring the "safety" of the indivdual drives. Sure, RAID1 is safer because of the backup drive. The only way to really be "safe" is to regularly backup to removable media and store it offsite, in addition to whatever (if any) backing up the array provides (RAID0 provides zero). And I agree, depending on what apps you run, RAID0 is not all that cracked up to be for most desktop uses.

\Dan

 

[User1001]

this is a noob question, but say that one drive fails. Would it need to be replaced or would formatting make the drive reusable.

 

[bozo1]

Depends on the nature of the failure. If it's mechanical, formatting won't help. If it's more like scrambled/corrupt data, then it may. Either way, your data is gone.

 

[NleahciM]

raid 0 is essentially pointless unless you do a whole ton of video editing. Even if you do do a ton of video editing - you still need a backup drive. RAID 0+1 makes a whole lot more sense for that. Raid 0 only doubles your throughput - nothing else. Getting two raptors is a waste of money. SCSI would be alot better if you have that much money to waste. RAID 0 is too dangerous to use without proper backup.

 

[EeyoreX]

RAID 0 is too dangerous to use without proper backup.

IMO, ANY setup is too dangerous to use without proper backup...

\Dan