Running raid with different HD?

[spp]

I'm thinking about doing raid..... but I'm not sure if I have to have two identical drives (or 4 for those that want to do raid 0+1).

Has anyone done raid with different HD (different speed.. different size..) and still gain advantage over not doing it? (As far as I understand, if one HD has to wait for the other one to load the information you need, it slows down the faster of the two, doesn't it?)


Also, is software raid comparable to the hardware raid? (I asked Dave Patterson, who invented raid, and he said that he recommends hardware over sofrware, and that you can find an adaptec for less than 100 dollars........ but I haven't really found one like that..)

THanks for any input.

 

[Elledan]

As long as the drives are comparable (rpm, size (GB) etc.), it shouldn't give any problems. Of course, the real test is when you first boot the system with the RAID configuration installed

Hardware raid is usually better than software raid.

 

[NelsonMuntz]

Hardware RAID is more stable than software RAID. You can use two different hard drives, but the array will be limited to the smaller/slower of the two. This means if you have a 40 Gb 6 ns and a 60 Gb 10 ns in a RAID 1 array it will be like one 40 Gb 10 ns drive.

 

[neuralfx]

you really want to use identical drives, and for raid 0, hardware raid... You asked Dave patterson.............................................. well since you're on speaking terms with the Inventor... maybe you should ask his advice.. heh..
-neural