• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Setting up my RAID system

C

comp2015

Junior Member
I am setting up a simple RAID 1 system in my computer.

I have 2 500gb hard drives installed.

C: has everything installed windows, programs etc.

I plan on cloning the C: drive using Acronis True Image

Question:
I do not know what to do with the 2nd drive do I need to install windows on it? Do I format it? Currently under disk management it says that it is Unallocated.

So what is the next step before I download Acronis to mirror the drive?

I am also open to any other Software you guys might recommend for RAID 1 other than acronis.

My goals is to make a complete snapshot of the entire operating system/files/programs etc. So there is zero downtime.

Thanks for your help.
 
Acronis True Image does not do RAID. You need to do either software RAID through Windows (which I do not recommend) or buy a hardware RAID controller for your system (which I do recommend).

Acronis is an imaging solution, as the name implies. It creates a one-time static image copy, a snapshot of your system. It can be set to create multiple snapshots if you want. It can also do some really handy things like boot to a snapshot recovery environment and help you with restores, but that's backup and imaging, not RAID.

RAID1 is two drives that are exact copies of each other 100% of the time, and if one fails, the other takes over until the failed drive is replaced. RAID is redundancy, not backup.

Based on your desire for zero downtime, what you do want is true RAID1. What you do NOT want is Acronis. I would suggest purchasing a RAID card for your system (unless your motherboard has hardware RAID support) and connecting your drives to it. You may need to reinstall or repair Windows if you do so. While this might be painful it's the most solid and reliable RAID1 method available to you (Windows software raid doesn't really work right for the C drive, drive loss will initiate a reboot and the second drive must be selected for boot manually).
 
Hey npaladin,

Thanks so much for the clarification.

I was hoping to achieve it through the software channel because I am not much for internal computer hardware person.

If I do go the hardware route, what products to you recommend. I am still on XP.

I guess my biggest goal is 1x a day or 1x every 2 days to take a complete snapshot of my computer. Files, programs etc. So like I mentioned it could be saved.

I do not necessarily need to have 0% downtime, so I have no problem restoring the drive image.

But I guess my next question is when you do an IMAGE of your C: drive doe is backup all 200 or 300 gb (whatever the c: drive is)

So every image would be a 200gb copy, or does it add to the image with changes as they are made.

Thanks
 
Acronis allows incremental changes to be made to a snapshot image, but each one takes a certain amount of time and consumes a lot of resources, so it's not something you want running continuously...I wouldn't do it more than daily. And yes, an image is a backup of all 200 or 300 GB.

If that's actually what you're looking for, all you have to do is format the second drive, and set up Acronis to store the snapshot backups of the C drive on the other drive.

XP is a particularly special problem though, it's way out of date and no longer supported by Microsoft...frankly I'm shocked Acronis still supports it. But supported hardware is hard to find, and it would be difficult to add a RAID card to preserve the C drive without reinstalling Windows.
 
I'd be just a bit surprised if the OP were using Win XP, but it's possible. In that case, I'd pick up a license to Windows 7 before going forward.

Even so, if he's already installed the OS on one disk, and the BIOS configuration's storage-mode is "AHCI," he'll either have to start over or make the conversion from AHCI to RAID-mode using the Fix-It button and procedures on the M$ web-site, or the two or three RegEdit changes described in other web remedies. With those latter, he'd still need to take care in making the BIOS changes at the next system start-up and before it posts past the BIOS_entry point.

As I understand it (been a while and I could be wrong) -- a PCI-E hardware controller will actually take a formatted disk and OS-installation and convert it to the chosen RAID configuration through its own BIOS. How this would be possible with an onboard Intel (or any) controller I'm not so sure. But it should be easy.

The safest bet might be as follows.

You convert a bootable AHCI-mode OS install to a RAID-mode OS install, if indeed the OS was originally installed to a disk in AHCI mode. Otherwise -- just start with "Step 2."

With or without the OS disk cabled to the system, you would first create the RAID volume on two fresh drives. Then you'd simply clone the OS disk to that array using a software tool like Acronis Disk Director, True-Image '14, or whatever utility would allow creation of a self-booting optical-disc implementation of the software.

If choosing to install the OS from scratch, you'd either create the array choice of RAID1 in the controller card's BIOS and THEN install the OS, or you MIGHT be able to do it with Windows pre-installed and using something like Intel RST and drive management software. To tell the truth, I've only used PCI-E RAID controllers myself, but the easy step-by-step installation for the onboard controller should be in the manual for any particular motherboard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top