What is RAID and why do I need it (or not)

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
M

mjolnir2k

Senior member
Apr 25, 2001
862
0
0
I am looking to buy a new MoBo and am wondering what is "RAID"? Do I need this?

Secondly:
I am considering the Epox 8K7A RAID...opinions.

Thanks all...I am still learning!
 
J

johndoe52

Senior member
Aug 12, 2001
773
0
0
That board has raid 1 and raid 0. Raid 1 mirrors two drives. So everything that gets send to one drive gets sent to the other. This is used in case one of your drives fails so you don't lose anything.
Raid 0 will turn two hard drives into one by sending half the information to one drive and the other half to the other drive. This is supposed to increase the performance however if you lose one drive then all your info is lost.
You really don't need them unless you get bored.
 
J

jcmkk

Golden Member
Jun 22, 2001
1,159
0
0
No offense, but if you don't already know what RAID is, I wouldn't suggest that you mess with it. At least not on the computer that you are currently building. You wont notice the difference that much, and setting it up could give you major headaches if it wants to hassle with you.
 
M

mike2fix

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2001
6,715
0
76
I would have to disagree, RAID can provide a nice performance boost and if he doesn't try new things, he won't learn. IMHO
 
C

cpals

Diamond Member
Mar 5, 2001
4,494
0
76
Since the topic is started already.... I'm getting an IWill XP333-R this weekend and also will have two 40g IBM drives. I have one already and one is being shipped. Can I keep the information on my one drive that I have now or does it have to be all cleaned out? I guess I'll have to start burning the cds if I have to format everything.
 
R

Ringer

Member
Jan 1, 2001
120
0
0
You will have to reformat the hard drives and configure them for Raid. You will have the option to configure Raid 0 or Raid 1...Choose Raid 0 for performance and Raid 1 for data recovery. If you are like me,an avid gamer and video freak, choose Raid 0 and expect a fairly decent performance boost compared to standard AT100/7200rpm drives. Leave the default cluster size as is and follow the onscreen bios setup. I am on an Iwill Raid system now and found the performance gain enough to keep me in the Raid setup from now on. Say good bye to standard single AT100 drives. Oh, and dont forget AT133 has been released as well, might even be a better performer.
 
C

cpals

Diamond Member
Mar 5, 2001
4,494
0
76


<< Start burnin if you want to raid those drives!!! >>



Guess I'll get out my 50 pack of cds. :) Time to backup everything.
 
D

dunkster

Golden Member
Nov 13, 1999
1,473
0
0
I have KR7A/RAID board, but neither RAID nor ATA133 compatability were in my criteria list.

The extra money for four discrete IDE ports gives you excellent configuration flexibility.

On a typical system with 2 HDs, CDRW and CDROM devices, each device can be configured as master on a discrete IDE port. Any master/slave configs are eliminated.

If I were buying today, I'd probably get the Shuttle AK35GTR simply because of lower price and great reviews.

Hope this helps!
 
S

stonecold3169

Platinum Member
Jan 30, 2001
2,060
0
76
as just said, the beauty of RAID onboard for me was to function as an extra onboard IDE controller. I have my DVD, cd-rw, and 2 hdd all running independent of each other as masters, which is handy I guess
 
R

Ringer

Member
Jan 1, 2001
120
0
0
Thats the first reason I liked Raid,individual IDE ports for all my drives. So much easier then buying another controller card. Idividual IDE ports helped out with burning on Clone CD and Nero as well, "Burn Proof" issues. As time went on I realized the performance boost I get from striping the HDs' was better then single drive mode. My bench was never telling me anything till I found out how to use the Raid system properly. Once you have it up and running you will see the value of Raid as well as the performance gains. Good luck...
 
C

cpals

Diamond Member
Mar 5, 2001
4,494
0
76


<< Thats the first reason I liked Raid,individual IDE ports for all my drives. So much easier then buying another controller card. Idividual IDE ports helped out with burning on Clone CD and Nero as well, "Burn Proof" issues. As time went on I realized the performance boost I get from striping the HDs' was better then single drive mode. My bench was never telling me anything till I found out how to use the Raid system properly. Once you have it up and running you will see the value of Raid as well as the performance gains. Good luck... >>



How did you set it up properly? I'm getting the IWILL XP333-R today and want to know the best way to run raid 0....?
 
X

x86

Banned
Oct 12, 2001
397
0
0


<< I would have to disagree, RAID can provide a nice performance boost and if he doesn't try new things, he won't learn. IMHO >>



I second that. RAID can offer a theoretical 100% boost in performance. Some times theory doesn't always hold true. Tomshardware has shown that with RAID will provide a good 30% boost in performance on everyday use. Expect to see > 30% performance when doing database and high end HDD opperations.

-x86
 
T

Tom

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
13,293
1
76
Don't know if it's right or not but I have heard that Raid0 is faster for disk writes but slower for disk reads. If this is correct then it would be good for things like video capture but not so good for gaming.

If anyone can confirm or deny this it might be useful.
 
G

GiGoLo

Senior member
Oct 1, 2001
453
0
0
I currently have 2 - 40gb IBM 120gxp's in RAID 0. I ran the HD Tach 2.61 benchmark to give you some real world results. Unfortunatly, this cracked version of HD Tach won't do write tests so all of the following are read tests. Here's the results :

For one single 40gb 120gxp on ATA 100 - max 30880.0kps, min. 15903.0 kps, avg. 28447.5 kps

And here's my baby running RAID 0 - max 72736.0kps, min. 16588.0 kps, avg. 46309.9 kps

Like some others have said, you won't really notice a difference in gaming or standard programs (nothing noticeable to the human eye anyway), BUT there is a huge difference when rendering or encoding photos (large photos), digital video, or DVD rips.

Another important thing to remember is that both drives don't have to be identical, however if they are different sizes, your RAID setup will only be as large as twice the size of the smallest drive.
Example: 2 x 40gb = 80gb RAID or 1 x 30gb + 1 x 40gb = 60gb RAID (10gb's lost)
and MOST importantly is mentioned earlier when if one drive goes out, you lose everything. so make sure if you want to venture into this, you either have an extra hdd to backup your data or possible do a RAID 0 + 1 (mirroring and striping)

Hope this helps
 
G

Gene396

Member
Aug 20, 2001
141
0
0
Raid gives the addition of two extra discrete IDE ports. My problem on a Epox 8K7A+ is that I have never been able get the extra ports. Tried again yesterday and ended up having to reformat and start again. Would some one please write exact directions for the Epox 8K7A+ so that I can have 4 master IDE ports and not use striping or mirrowing!!

Thanks in advance!!

Gene
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom