RAID Newb - Questions and help!

[JETninja]

Ok, the new system in the bottom of my sig has been running for a few days on a table while I load programs etc and installed that 2TB data drive, and I was hoping to install it into the desk today making a seamless transition. Yeah right!

Last night I installed Office 2010 Pro +, and all the mod files to my racing game. I look at it this morning, all installs are done, but I have a message from the Intel Matrix software telling me the RAID setup is corrupt and that I should rebuild it.

I run 2 Seagate 1TB 7200rpm units in RAID 1.

Is this something that happens often? Is it indicative of an actual HD issue or is it a RAID issue? How can I test each? If I rebuild the RAID, will I lose the data thats on the discs right now?

I've had MB's for many years capable of RAID, but never ran it until now. I need something dead reliable for family use.

Thanks!

 

[Arsynic]

RAID arrays do become degraded sometimes, but quality ones should not on a frequent basis. Most desktops have the cheapo-software RAID that I wouldn't recommend using at all--especially on an OS volume since it's a pain to fix OS bootup issues on cheapo-software RAID where you'll have to load the RAID drivers before the OS can even recognize the volume.

Anyways, by simply clicking on the RAID array in the toolbar, you should be able to repair the degraded array within the OS. If this happens often, I would recommend upgrading the RAID drivers if possible. If your OS drive is a RAID0 array, I would recommend making an image of it and having that handy.

Decent hardware RAID controllers can cost hundreds of dollars. That alone should tell you that "free" RAID is cheap and unreliable.

 

[JETninja]

Looks like the MB came with an early version of the Intel Matrix tool, I went to Intel and downloaded their Rapid Storage Technology Tool 9.6.0.1014 and its right now rebuilding that Volume. We'll see, can't find any new issues with cables or anything.

 

[Arsynic]

Seems outdated software may have been the issue.

 

[JETninja]

I hope thats it, though the MB is new...just got this 2 weeks ago. Will report back, its at 25% now...LOL! This newer software is quite different looking with more options for sure...

 

[JETninja]

Well it failed on its first attempt...Hmm. Trying again.

Question, how can I tell which one is failing? Both are in a HD cage, with one empty space between them, one attached to SATA 1, the other to SATA 2. In the Tools picture its always the lower of the 2 pictured, but I don't know if that actually means anything.

Edit, figured it out, it is the bottom one, I matched the S/N's...guess I should pull it and take it back to Microcenter...

 

[JETninja]

Well, I'm thinking this whole RAID thing on this MB is a load of crap. Exchanged the "bad" HD, installed the new one, ran the rebuild process, error. Did it again and went to bed, woke up and just checked it out, system had reboot with errors...I start digging and now I can't even boot into Windows even though it says my 1st HD is fine. Guess I'm going to have to delete the raid volumes and re-install everything. Oh Joy! Not....

 

[sub.mesa]

Decent hardware RAID controllers can cost hundreds of dollars. That alone should tell you that "free" RAID is cheap and unreliable.

In fact, hardware RAID is just as unreliable as Windows onboard RAID when using non-TLER capable harddrives; your disks would be detached from the array just like with Windows onboard RAID is often the case. So buying an expensive controller won't solve this issue.

If you want highest-quality RAID, you would have to abandon hardware RAID and Windows platform. If you can't do that, then focus on backups instead to make your storage reliable. Not much else you can do; you're still stuck with NTFS.

@OP, check your SMART info regularly, specifically these attributes:
- Current Pending Sector (non-zero value means TROUBLE!)
- Reallocated Sector Count (fixed bad sectors; were likely Current Pending Sector in the past)
- UDMA CRC Error Count (cable errors)

 

[FishAk]

It's really not a good idea to use an array if you don't have a backup first, as you are discovering the hard way.

Can you boot to just one of the disks from the array? One should be mostly clean, but you may need to do a repair with the Windows install CD to fix the boot loader.

I suggest setting up you install with just one disk, and make a backup with some image sets. Set your disks to RAID in BIOS, like you did, but don't actually make an array. This way, when you decide to make an array, everything is already set up. Once you have a good install, and backup, then create an array, and restore an image to it.

RAID is not backup.

 

[pjkenned]

Another thought... RAID 1 does NOT require an expensive controller... at all. Take something like the Intel SASUC8I (or anything LSI 1068e based) or a newer LSI SAS 2008 based card like a 9211-8i (granted these are twice as much). The Intel card is about $160 new at retail and connects 8 drives.

It only does RAID 0, 1 and 10, but if you ever wanted you can also flash it to IT firmware and use it as a HBA (which is what you would want on a ZFS implementation which sub.mesa is a FreeBSD/ZFS guru on BTW). Just a thought.

 

[JETninja]

In fact, hardware RAID is just as unreliable as Windows onboard RAID when using non-TLER capable harddrives; your disks would be detached from the array just like with Windows onboard RAID is often the case. So buying an expensive controller won't solve this issue.

If you want highest-quality RAID, you would have to abandon hardware RAID and Windows platform. If you can't do that, then focus on backups instead to make your storage reliable. Not much else you can do; you're still stuck with NTFS.

@OP, check your SMART info regularly, specifically these attributes:
- Current Pending Sector (non-zero value means TROUBLE!)
- Reallocated Sector Count (fixed bad sectors; were likely Current Pending Sector in the past)
- UDMA CRC Error Count (cable errors)

When I get home tonight (and after the kids playoff soccer game!) I use the win 7 disk to repair the boot record, until this morning I could always boot into the good disk. I plan on making a Mirror image backup soon as possible. (give me a chance to try the burning part of the new SATA DVD)

How do I monitor those attributes? Sorry, complete newb to monitoring hard drives, they always just worked for me, never attempted a RAID setup before. I assumed doing something like RAID 1 would be a simple affair. Silly me! Ha Ha.

And to all, I seriously appreciate any and all help from you guys! I've always wanted to do a Mirror drive situation, building a new PC was the excuse to give it a shot. I have much prized music and pictures (I shot almost daily with my DSLR) that I want more security then in the past. If I have to do manual backups so be it, but I'm hoping I can get RAID 1 going without spending a bundle. Right now a $160 card would be too much. (spent quite a bit already, and xmas soon, etc..)

 

[JETninja]

Well, that was fun. Nothing could bring up the HD's, and even the DVD drive. Finally I figured out the Bios must have an issue. First I grabbed the latest MB Bios and got it installed, no help. Then cleared CMOS....Success! All HDs etc show and all HD smart data in the Bios. Going to keep them all separate until I can make a boot disc. Too fun!

 

[RebateMonger]

As noted by others here, if you want data security, make backups. RAID 1 can improve storage availability, but that's mostly useful for businesses and certainly doesn't replace backups. It's so easy to make full system image backups nowadays (at least for desktop PCs), that I no longer advise the use of redundant RAID on desktops.

As far as RAID 1 goes, I've used four $60 HighPoint IDE RAID cards in RAID 1 mode. A couple are still running six years later with zero problems. My previous personal SBS 2003 server (a Dell SC420) ran continuously with zero RAID errors for about six years using the onboard Dell controller in RAID 1 mode and non-Enterprise WD SATA disks.

 

[Arsynic]

In fact, hardware RAID is just as unreliable as Windows onboard RAID when using non-TLER capable harddrives; your disks would be detached from the array just like with Windows onboard RAID is often the case. So buying an expensive controller won't solve this issue.

If you want highest-quality RAID, you would have to abandon hardware RAID and Windows platform. If you can't do that, then focus on backups instead to make your storage reliable. Not much else you can do; you're still stuck with NTFS.

@OP, check your SMART info regularly, specifically these attributes:
- Current Pending Sector (non-zero value means TROUBLE!)
- Reallocated Sector Count (fixed bad sectors; were likely Current Pending Sector in the past)
- UDMA CRC Error Count (cable errors)

There's no reason to abandon Windows. Many servers with hardware RAID controllers run Windows OSes. In fact, commercial SAN systems with multiple RAID controllers run consumer-level SATA drives just fine.