Raid vs. ATA

[saeapu]

Hello,
let em start of by telling you about my hardware config.

I have a Lanparty Pro 875B MOBO,
P4 3.0 Ghz with HT
1 GB DDR Dual Channel Ram
Nvidia 6800 GT OC Video Card
2 - DVD Writers
2- 120GB Seagate HD -- PATA
1- 200GB Segate HD -- PATA
1- 120GB Western Digital -- SATA


Know, my question is I want to set up a desktop with many functionalites.
For example:


1. Be able to play games
2. Be able to do media editing (movies, music...)
3. Be able to have a Testing Enviorment Server
4. Be able to Program using Visual Studio.NET and other Apps.
5. And any other day to day computer usage.


Since my MOBO comes with 2-SATA, 2-PATA, ansd 2-ATA RAID
Also my SATA is capable of Raid Configuration.

SATA RAID 0/1; IDE RAID 0/1/0+1/RAID 1.5
ATA 133/100/66; 2 SATA

I have 2 questions then :

1) How will I configure my harddrives...RAID or REG. PATA

2) If not raid, since I have 4 Harddrives at the moment, I only have 2 hooked up right now, so if I hook my SATA up as a back up drive...that is no problem, the question I have since I have to ATA Raid MOBO Controllers...If I just want to hook the last PATA Harddrive up as my secondary backup, then can I just connect it to the RAID Controller and will the MOBO let it work like a reg. harddrive or will I have to convert it to Raid for it to work.

Thanks

 

[saeapu]

Also...Which OS do you recommend me to be able to do all the tasks I want to do...XP, Server 03, Media Center Edition

 

[RadiclDreamer]

This is not the type of machine that you want for a "testing" environment.

 

[DaFinn]

I would:

-Put the 200Gb (properly partitioned) as a boot/OS drive with certain applications in it...
-Install games and other I/O sensitive stuff on the SATA drive
-Put the 2 120Gb Seagates in RAID1 for storage/ backup.

 

[saeapu]

Originally posted by: DaFinn
I would:

-Put the 200Gb (properly partitioned) as a boot/OS drive with certain applications in it...
-Install games and other I/O sensitive stuff on the SATA drive
-Put the 2 120Gb Seagates in RAID1 for storage/ backup.

Thanks,DaFinn

Any Other Suggestions ?

 

[Transistor]

What size is the cache on each of these drives? How old are the drives?

 

[Zepper]

Most PATA RAID adapters can also function as ordinary HD adapters - SiliconImage based ones can support ANY IDE drive including opticals and LS-120, etc. as ordinary drives.
.bh.

 

[saeapu]

Originally posted by: Transistor
What size is the cache on each of these drives? How old are the drives?

I can not remember exactly what the cache is but these hardrives are fairly new...the oldest one I have is the 200gb which I bought in july or aug.

 

[Transistor]

I downloaded the manual for your motherboard and checked it out. The HighPoint 372N RAID controller can support up to four drives. So, I would take the three 120GB drives and put them on that controller in a RAID 0 configuration. You can use an adapter to put the SATA drive on this controller. Then, put the 200GB drive on it's own. I would put everything on the RAID array. I would use the 200GB drive for backup and storage. You will need to backup important files to the 200GB drive. If you want a dual boot for some sort of testing server, you can create a partition on the 200GB drive for that purpose.

I have a RAID 0 array with four Maxtor HDDs on my computer and love it. It's very fast and has run reliably for over two years. If you are wondering about how RAID 0 with 3 drives performs, here is a link to an article on Tom's Hardware that shows benchmarks with 3 drives used in a RAID 0 array performing very well. This is with a Promise PATA controller.

http://www4.tomshardware.com/s...0329/fastrak66-15.html

 

[Blain]

These type of RAID questions come up all the time.
We need some type of FAQ links for people to read... Until the search function gets fixed. :shocked: