To RAID or not to RAID ?

[gtomas]

I only have 1 HD and its pretty much all i need for now, i am looking to purchase an Abit TH7II mobo, and i have a choice of w/Raid or wo/Raid. Since i dont really know what Raid is, can someone please tell me if I need it, and what it is ? Thanks alot for any help.

 

[uwannawhat]

This should clear things up for you.

RAID

 

[Aquinas]

In my opinion if you are willing to invest some time and some effort into making a truly great rig, then go with the RAID setup. From what I gather you are making the first steps into understanding the concepts so you must be slightly motivated already. RAID can increase your performance drastically (from my experience) but as with all things computer related YOU MUST HAVE A NEED before you worry ABOUT HAVING A SOLUTION. You will need 2 harddrives and some patience in the setup process. Many people run into hurdles while dealing with RAID configurations. This does not mean that they are problematic. They just need a little more TLC. I would guess that if you are doing some heavy video editing, sound manipulation, or are looking to squeak out all the performance you can you should go with the RAID. Most newer drives are performing very well at much higher capacities than before. Saving your money for something like this could be a good alternative. I am running RAID, but if I did it over again I would get tehfastest IDE drive out and simplify my system. (ask me in a week and I would probably disagree though!) cheers

 

[PowerEngineer]

Thanks for the link, uwanna. I was wondering if RAID 0+1 was actually the implied combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1 (which I now understand that it is). I gather this requires four disks to accomplish. Aquinas is right about needing a "need", but I still have it pencilled in to my dream machine

 

[Jeomite]

here's another link about RAID, more thorough and informative...

LINK