RAID array + Single Drive (*not* spare)?

[MIDIman]

Hi all - we have a new kickbutt computer and we've installed a RocketRAID 2220, which features some 8 channels, SATAII, 3.0gb/s, NCQ...the works! I currently have setup 2x 250gb Hitachi t7k250's in RAID-0, along with some others in RAID-5 - but would like to attach a Seagate 7200.9 500gb as a completely separate drive/partition...i.e. all I'm seeing in the manager are items for installing the drive as a spare, etc.

According to the General FAQ on Highpoint's site, it should support this:

I have no need for RAID at this time. Can the host adapter support single drive configurations?
Yes - RAID is optional, not required. The RAID controller is capable of supporting RAID and non-RAID drive configurations.

Can the host adapter support multiple arrays, or single disk and RAID configurations simultaneously?
Yes. The RAID controller can support multiple RAID arrays, as long as enough free channels are available.
The controller will also support single drives configured alongside a RAID array.

I have initialized the drive, but its not showing up in Windows Disk Management.

I would put this drive on the motherboard, but Intel doesn't support all of the 7200.9's features (SATAII, 3.0gb/s, NCQ...I would only get NCQ...)

 

[ribbon13]

You wouldn't be losing any performance by putting it on a plain SATA port. In fact it may put your Seagate on a different bus from your RAID, which would be ideal, depending on weather the SATA controller built into your board is routed through the PCI bus.

And 'Intel' and 'kick-butt' computer don't belong in the same post, unless you got a laptop with a Pentium M. AMD chips are superior far more often than not.

 

[MIDIman]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
You wouldn't be losing any performance by putting it on a plain SATA port. In fact it may put your Seagate on a different bus from your RAID, which would be ideal, depending on weather the SATA controller built into your board is routed through the PCI bus.

I'd really really prefer that this drive is on the raid card. Its very likely that additional drives will be purchased for future RAID's.

What exactly is JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) - is that what I should be installing this as? Its the only non-RAID option. I tried initializing the Seagate as JBOD, but upon reboot, I get a bunch of ascii gigally-******. Once I re-removed the JBOD, all was fine.

edit...OK, so I'm now reading that JBOD also requires two drives...so I'm back where I started...anyone?

And 'Intel' and 'kick-butt' computer don't belong in the same post, unless you got a laptop with a Pentium M. AMD chips are superior far more often than not.

LOL - whatever man...this is a Dual-Xeon, 3.6ghz, 4gb of ram, 2 terabyte RAID-5... How exactly does "AMD chips are superior" help my situation or have anything to do with RAID arrays? Geez...

 

[ribbon13]

JBOD is exactly that, just a bunch of disks turned into one drive.

Since this drive is going to be tied to the HBA anyway, can you run it as a 1 drive RAID0?

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What does your computer kicking butt (or not), have to do with RAID arrays either.

 

[MIDIman]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
JBOD is exactly that, just a bunch of disks turned into one drive.

Since this drive is going to be tied to the HBA anyway, can you run it as a 1 drive RAID0?

--

What does your computer kicking butt (or not), have to do with RAID arrays either.

I didn't think a 1-drive RAID-0 was possible...will see if that's an option... if not, I may just give Highpoint a call.

 

[MIDIman]

For anyone interested in this topic, I had a chat with tech support. We 1) updated the BIOS, and 2) Disabled ERDA. All is fine now with the Seagate 500gb being its own JBOD all by itself. Really nice fast stuff!