Raid 1 or ghost image.

[silverbullet555]

I'm building a new system and have two Maxtor 160GB 7200 RPM IDE drives. I am storing all of my data on one of these drives and want to make sure that I have data integrity. I was thinking about doing this as a RAID 1 configuration so the drives are autmotically updated and I always havea backup of my data. The other option would be to use Norton Ghost and ghost an image on a regular basis.

Thoughts?

 

[jvarszegi]

Use RAID 1. Then periodically take a backup using cheap media if you're REALLY worried.

Each has its advantages. With RAID 1, you're pretty much guaranteed to have an up-to-the-millisecond backup; however, if your system or data are compromised in any way other than a drive failure, you don't have a save point to which you can revert. Ghost and similar programs provide the opposite: periodic save points to which you can revert, but you lose data changes after the last save point in case of an emergency.

Ghost doesn't cost that much. I'd get both.

 

[Rike]

Imaging is for back-up; RAID 1 is more for up-time. If you really want to be safe, do both.

 

[silverbullet555]

Both it is since I already have a copy of ghost.

One of the drives is currently in use in one of my computers so it has the beginnings of the data on it. Can I just set the array up with that drive and the new one and will the information be transferred over. Or, must I format it and start over?

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: silverbullet555
Both it is since I already have a copy of ghost.

One of the drives is currently in use in one of my computers so it has the beginnings of the data on it. Can I just set the array up with that drive and the new one and will the information be transferred over. Or, must I format it and start over?

Check your RAID instructions carefully, but it has been my experience that converting into a Raid 1 when data is already present on the master dive simply involves the RAID utility copying all of the data from the master drive to the secondary (or however many other drives you might be using in the array). I would image first, just to be on the safe side, though. Murphy's law is always in full effect.

 

[TheGreenGoblin]

If the Raid 1 array is all you'll have in the machine then you'll have to Ghost to another HDD or to DVD-R which coould be annoying. You can't create an image of a drive and save it to that same drive , the destination has to be different.

 

[silverbullet555]

Turns out the Raid controller is SATA only. Since I already have the drives I'll have to figure something else out. I know that in Windows 2000 you can set up a software raid. Wonder if it can be done in XP.