RAID, What do I need to know

[Jim123]

Hi, what do I need, I plan on using Windows XP Home. And I have

1 - WD WDC ATA100 72RPM 40GB
1 - WD WDC ATA100 72RPM 20GB
1 - QUANTUM FIREBALL ATA66 54RPM 12GB
1 - QUANTUM FIREBALL ATA66 54RPM 6GB

Do the drives need to be the same, or can I partition them to be the same?
and how do you install an OS over it.

Please help
Jim

 

[MikeMike]

check the FAQ's (in my sig) should give most of the answers

i belive partitioning inst a possibility

dont need to be the same but w/o identicle drives your performance will not be increased (maybe lost)

 

[EeyoreX]

You don't need the same drives, but it is strongly recommended. I don't know about performance, but as far as space you will lose some. When you create a RAID array it will use the capacity of the smallest hard drive. So, if you RAID your 20GB and 40GB drives you will end up with a RAID array of only 40GB. The second 20GB of your 40GB drive will not be useable.

\Dan

 

[MrGamer7934]

Always a good idea to raid hard drives of the same brand/model and capacity if possible. When drives are used with different capacities the OS will match the size of the smaller drive from the larger capacity drive. In other words (80GB and 40GB = 40GB and 40GB in Raid) result is loosing 40gb of space.

Good Luck,
Gamer