RAID Setup Questions

[Wizeguy81]

Hello,

It's good to be back on the forums. I'm building a new PC, and I've been reading a lot to catch up on all the new tech out there (it's been a while).

GA-K8NF-9 NForce4 x4
Athlon 64 3200+ 939
Samsung SATA 120GB (X2)

I plan to setup a RAID system, but I've never done it before, and I still can't find the right answers. So, here's what I want to do, and I'd like to know 1) if it's possible, and 2) the best way to do it:

I want to divide these 2 hard drives into several partitions, with 2 partitions on each set to RAID 1 (one partition for the OS, another for documents). The rest of the partitions I'll use for games, music, etc., and without RAID. So...

A) Can the on-board RAID controller (or NvRaid) use partitions (instead of entire drives) in a RAID configuration?

B) How should I create the partitions? Before installing Windows? Or can it be done using a RAID utility like NvRaid?

I'd really appreciate some help. Thanks!

 

[Uncle Bob]

Yes you can do what you propose. What you have to get your head around is that when you define a raid array, the operating system (eg windows) treats the array as single drive (even though it's multple drives at the hardware level) and can do anything with it that it could do with a 'real' single drive. So, you can partition it in any way you want.

The order of things is that you go into the bios on your motherboard as a first step and define the array specifying whether it's a Raid-0 or Raid-1 type. Then you install Windows and you can either setup multiple partitions at this point or just create a primary partition and then setup the remaining partitions once the system is up and running.

What you have to ask yourself is do you really want Raid? and Why?
Raid-1 = Mirroring = Full fault tolerance and improved Read Performance but only 50% of physical capacity is available
Raid-0 = Striping = Small Improvement in overall performance balanced against increased risk of data loss

 

[SemperFi]

It sounds to me like you want to partition the drive and just raid a couple of partitions. If that is what you are asking I have to disagree with uncle bob. At least to my knowledge that is not possible. I am no guru or expert by any means though. You maybe able to software raid partitions but I don't think you will have any luck using the built in raid controller for just a couple of partitions.

Like uncle bob said you take 2 drives and make them 1 as far as windows or any os is concerned. Anyhow once you get the drives setup in a raid then you can partition them just like you would any drive. I have an raid0 array with 3 partitions. First for OS, second for files, third for video processing.

 

[Uncle Bob]

doh!
:disgust:


I didn't read the original post properly, SemperFi is entirely correct.





'Scuse me, I need to lie down somewhere quiet

 

[Wizeguy81]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I figured that with two 120GB drives, it would be worth it to use 40GB on one drive to mirror a partition of the other drive; but that might not work. It seemed logical because Windows treats partitions like separate drives; i.e., I have five partitions on two hard drives, and Windows can't tell me which partition belongs to which hard drive (without using special software).

I heard that the NvRaid utility can keep a drive on "standby" to make an emergency copy of one or more drives. Maybe this will work with a partition of the drive.

So I guess it's worth at least trying. I'll make my partitions in WinXP setup, then try to mirror one of them using the BIOS or NvRaid.

 

[SemperFi]

You don't say which OS you are using. I have read that 2000 and xp pro have a software raid function that may work the way you are wanting. I have never used it and don't know anything about it but that may be a likely canidate to consider.

Maybe someone here can add to this.