Setting up a RAID1 on my current setup.

[KlokWyze]

I've searched quite a bit and really just need a few bits of info on this. I plan on setting up a RAID1 on my Biostar A785G3 and currently have a WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA DRIVE installed and another waiting to go in. There is a 200GB SATA in the current setup as well, because I've been doing partial software backups.

Can a RAID be configured and controlled solely from the BIOS?

Can I simply remove/disconnect the 200GB, slap in the 500GB and setup a RAID1/mirror in BIOS and it will work correctly?

Will write times slow down?

Will read times speed up?

I'll do a backup of all critical data before I do this just in case something goes wrong....

 

[KlokWyze]

Anyone....?

 

[JETninja]

I just went through this, had issues but that was probably due to a bad 5V rail on the new PS, got a new one and its fine so I plan to setup raid again soon.

Suggest you make a mirror image of your current install and put that on another HD somewhere, and also a windows repair disc. Good write up here:
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/replace_hdd.asp

I set it up in Bios, and in Windows used the Intel Rapid Storage tool to control and monitor it. (Free)

 

[KlokWyze]

I just went through this, had issues but that was probably due to a bad 5V rail on the new PS, got a new one and its fine so I plan to setup raid again soon.

Suggest you make a mirror image of your current install and put that on another HD somewhere, and also a windows repair disc. Good write up here:
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/replace_hdd.asp

I set it up in Bios, and in Windows used the Intel Rapid Storage tool to control and monitor it. (Free)

Awesome. Thank you.

I've got to create an image of my windows partition anyway because I have to wipe the drives I'm creating an array with. Honestly though... after reading around a bit, it almost seems more logical to just do a full backup on a weekly basis as opposed to a RAID 1 setup...... ugh.

 

[RebateMonger]

Some RAID controllers will allow you to mirror a pre-existing hard drive. Others won't. The controller's manual should provide detail, although, in general, documentation for RAID controllers sucks.

It's always a good idea to have data backups whenever attempting something like this. Heck, it's always a good idea to have data backups anway....

It's likely that RAID 1 reads and writes will be the same speed as with a single disk. While there are controllers that will take advantage of the mirrored disks to read data from both disks at once, I don't know which controllers do that and it's likely that an inexpensive RAID card will be able to do it. As noted, writes will likely be similar to a single-disk write.

 

[KlokWyze]

Some RAID controllers will allow you to mirror a pre-existing hard drive. Others won't. The controller's manual should provide detail, although, in general, documentation for RAID controllers sucks.

It's always a good idea to have data backups whenever attempting something like this. Heck, it's always a good idea to have data backups anway....

It's likely that RAID 1 reads and writes will be the same speed as with a single disk. While there are controllers that will take advantage of the mirrored disks to read data from both disks at once, I don't know which controllers do that and it's likely that an inexpensive RAID card will be able to do it. As noted, writes will likely be similar to a single-disk write.

Yeah that's why I'm posting here. Kind of hard to find good, thorough documentation on setting up a RAID and explaining difficulties related to it. I'm using my on board motherboard RAID, not an expansion card/controller....

Thanks for the info...

I'm going to create the back image tonight and setup the raid tomorrow. Should be ok.