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RAID Array, help me understand.

7

72Chevelle

Junior Member
I decided to use the RAID on my Dragon+ by using 2 IBM 60gb drives set to Raid1 Mirroring. My idea was to store MP3 and pictures on this for the backup capability. So when I setup the Array, WIN2000 saw it as 1 disk, and I formated it on 1 big chunk as NTFS.

After I loaded some data on the drive, I assumed I could unplug 1 disk, since it's a direct copy of the other and move it to a standard IDE port and view the contents of the drive, but nothing was there. It even said the drive was unformatted.

Does a drive, once in an mirrored array, always need to be in an array to be accesable?

Thanks for the help.
 
Hmm, what raid chip is on your mobo ??

Cuz I've done just that (one day I woke up & the 2nd drive was out of whack or something) took it out, booted w/ single drive (worked fine) but it WAS the drive I made the mirror FROM. maybe that made a difference.
 
Mine is a Soyo Dragon+ with the Promise Controller. I was able to access the original drive in the array, while my Fasttrak utility was telling me there was an error with one of the drive, since it was removed. But when I tried to view that other disk, like even on another PC, it couldn't find the data.

I was hoping I could remove one of the drives and move it to another PC and access all the data.
 


<< I decided to use the RAID on my Dragon+ by using 2 IBM 60gb drives set to Raid1 Mirroring. My idea was to store MP3 and pictures on this for the backup capability. So when I setup the Array, WIN2000 saw it as 1 disk, and I formated it on 1 big chunk as NTFS. >>



Once the OS was loaded did you CREATE the mirror, from within Win2000? Doesn't sound like you did, sounds more like you set the RAID controller to be prepared for Raid-1 but you haven't created the mirror yet. My mistake i seem to have software raid-1 on the brain...



<< Does a drive, once in an mirrored array, always need to be in an array to be accesable? >>


Once the mirror is setup you will only be able to look at the data on the primary drive, the second drive will be hidden, until you BREAK the mirror then both drives will be viewable again.
 
Sorry, I can't help with the RAID problem, but I just had to say how cool your nickname is. A 72 Chevelle was my first car and it was a blast!!
 
The instructions with the onboard controller weren't real clear. I thought that when the array was setup in the controller (during the boot cycle) that all data was mirrored from that point automatically. So you're saying in the Windows fasttrak utility I need to setup mirroring also? I'll have to check the settings tonight.

Bulldawg, you can see my chevelle restoration at www.72chevelle.com

 
Here are the instructions for your RAID controller to create a hardware mirror.
Make sure the jumper is on pins 1-2 not 2-3
Inside RAID bios...

Unless you wish to format the main drive and start from scratch...
Creating a Security Array With An Existing Data Drive
NOTE: FastTrak100-Lite permits only two drives to be used for a single Mirrored array in Auto Setup.
You would use this method if you wish to use a drive that already contains data
and/or is the bootable system drive in your system. You will need another drive of
identical or larger storage capacity.
WARNING: Backup any necessary data before proceeding.
Failure to follow this accepted PC practice could result in data loss.
WARNING: If you wish to include your current bootable drive
using the Windows NT 4.x or Windows 2000 operating system
as part of a bootable Mirrored (RAID 1) array on your
FastTrak100-Lite, do NOT connect the hard drive to the
FastTrak100-Lite controller yet. You MUST install the Windows
NT4 or 2000 driver first to this drive while it is still attached to
the regular IDE port. For all other Operating Systems, proceed
here.
Follow these steps:
1. Using the Spacebar, choose ?Security? under the Optimize Array for section.
2. Press <Ctrl-Y> keys to Save your selection. The window below will appear.
Do you want the disk image to be duplicated to another? (Yes/No)
Y - Create and Duplicate
N - Create Only
3. Press ?Y? for the Create and Duplicate option. The window below will
appear asking you to select the Source drive to use. FastBuild will copy all
data from the Source drive to the Target drive.
4. Use the arrow keys to choose which drive contains the existing data to be copied.
5. Press [Ctrl-Y] keys to Save selection and start duplication. The following progress screen will appear.
Start to duplicate the image . . .
Do you want to continue? (Yes/No)
Y ? Continue N ? Abort
6. Select ?Y? to continue. If you choose ?N? , you will be returned to step 1.
7. Once complete, the following screen will appear confirming that your Security
array has been created. Press any key to reboot the system
Array has been created.
<Press Any Key to Reboot>
8. Proceed to install your OS & the FastTrak RAID drivers from the SOYO CD.

If you wish to format the entire system and start from scratch
Creating a Security Array With New Drives
NOTE: FastTrak100-Lite permit only two drives to be used for a single Mirrored
array in Auto Setup.
To create an array for data protection using new hard drives, follow these steps:
1. Using the Spacebar, choose ?Security? under the Optimize Array for section.
2. Press <Ctrl-Y> keys to Save your selection.
3. The window below will appear.
Do you want the disk image to be duplicated to another? (Yes/No)
Y - Create and Duplicate
N - Create Only
4. Press ?N? for the Create Only option.
5. A window will appear almost immediately confirming that your Security array
has been created. Press any key to reboot the system
Array has been created.
<Press Any Key to Reboot>
6. Proceed with normal FDISK and format procedures as if you had just
installed a new hard drive.
7. Once the arrayed drives have been formatted, proceed to install your OS &
then the FastTrak RAID Drivers from the SOYO CD.
 
I Followed the directions for creating an Array with 2 new drives, but instead of using FDisk like in step 6, I started up WIN2000 and went into Disk Management and created the volume and formatted with NTFS. Could this have created the problem?

BTW, I should have explained my system before, but I using one 60gb IBM drive in IDE1 for the primary WIN2000 and programs, and the Array (2x 60bm IGM Drive in IDE3 + 4) is used for Data only, not bootable. That's why I used win2000 disk managment instead of fdisk.
 


<< BTW, I should have explained my system before, but I using one 60gb IBM drive in IDE1 for the primary WIN2000 and programs, and the Array (2x 60bm IGM Drive in IDE3 + 4) is used for Data only, not bootable. That's why I used win2000 disk managment instead of fdisk. >>



Ok, now i see where the problem is.
If you want to use the on-board hardware RAID controller to mirror (1) drive onto another drive, the system must be setup like this:
The (2) drives to be used in the mirror must be connected to IDE 3 & 4, not ide 1.
If you want to use IDE 1 then you'll have to use SOFTWARE RAID within win2000. Hardware RAID would be the better choice though...
I see you have (3) drives, in a mirror you can only use (2) of them, the 3rd one will be left-out as a standard drive with no mirroring.
Connect your boot drive to IDE-3 and (1) of the extra drives to IDE-4, then follow the steps i posted above for: Creating a Security Array With An Existing Data Drive You will have to have the Win2000 RAID driver loaded before you connect it though.

RAID can be tricky for beginners, so take your time.
 
Yes, that's what I wanted. The Drive in IDE1 which has Win2000 and Programs on it, I don't really care about a duplicate of that drive. I want duplicates (RAID1) of the drives in IDE 3 & 4.

I'm going to give it a try again tonight.
 
As far as I can tell from your description, you're fine - the mirror is there. Check what Fast-Trak tells you at boot-time - if it tells you that the array is functional, you're good. Windows will see it as only 1 drive, as you described. But you can't move one drive of the array to another IDE channel. The drives are mirrored, but it's not as simple as a disk image. There's going to be some extra information on the disk that the controller uses - this will make the drive inaccessible from a channel off the controller.
 
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