Hard drives

A

asoccerplayer99

New Member
Hi everyone. I was wondering about something pertaining to hard drives and RAID. My setup right now is Vista Ultimate x64, with three hard drives:
C: -main OS/boot drive with all programs, 200GB SATA
D: -media drive with music and movies, 200GB IDE
E: -backup drive holding the image of C:, 500GB SATA

If I was to buy another 2 hard drives, a 500GB SATA of the exact make/model of E:, and a 1TB SATA, would it be possible to bring my system onto a striped RAID array? I'd like to end up with the two 500GB drives in RAID 0, with all contents of the original C: and D:, getting rid of the 200GB drives, and using the 1TB drive to hold the Vista-created backup image of the RAID array.

Can this be done?
 

My Computer

System One

Yes, asoccerplayer99, to improve HDD access speed, you can add another 500GB SATA or 200GB SATA to pair up with an existing one for RAID 0 array. It can be easily done.
You can also, partition the RAID drives into C: and D:
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    E6850
    Motherboard
    EVGA 122-CK-NF67-A1 680i
    Memory
    4 x OCZ Platinum 1GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
    Sound Card
    SB X-Fi X Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 23" 5MS
    Screen Resolution
    2048 x 1152
    Hard Drives
    2 x Barracuda 7200.10 320GB RAID 0 / 1 x 500GB Maxtor
    PSU
    Seasonic 600W M12
    Case
    CM Centurion 5
    Cooling
    air
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
Is it really as easy as making the Vista backup, creating the raid array, and restoring the backup to the new array? What about making backups of the array onto the 1TB drive, that would work?
 

My Computer

System One

If you finally decided on additional 500GB and a 1TB, I would do step:

1. remove E: to pair with the new one to set up RAID
2. install the 1TB HDD, format, and make it bootable.
3. mirror original C: to 1TB HDD then unhook the 1TB HDD after it is done. I use Acronis TM for the mirroring. If you need to bootup after the original C: is disable, don't unhook the 1TB and it would boot from there.
4. hookup the two 500GB HDDs and setup RAID array, format, partition and what ever necessary. Don't forget to make it bootable.
5. hook 1TB HDD back on and boot from it then mirror it to the new RAID drives. It will become the new C: now.
6. Unhook 1TB and boot from the new C: the RAID drives.
7. hook the 1TB back and format, assign name and do you necessary back ups.

and you are done. I believe you probably already know how to do it but just not sure.

Don't worry too much that you may screw up something. As for the worst scenario of screwing up, just reinstall Vista. Go through the steps in you mind and do it. Enjoy the process and have an excellent experince. Let us know how it goes.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    E6850
    Motherboard
    EVGA 122-CK-NF67-A1 680i
    Memory
    4 x OCZ Platinum 1GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
    Sound Card
    SB X-Fi X Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 23" 5MS
    Screen Resolution
    2048 x 1152
    Hard Drives
    2 x Barracuda 7200.10 320GB RAID 0 / 1 x 500GB Maxtor
    PSU
    Seasonic 600W M12
    Case
    CM Centurion 5
    Cooling
    air
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
One more thing, if you are not using after market SATA cables, get some to save lots of trouble down the road.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    E6850
    Motherboard
    EVGA 122-CK-NF67-A1 680i
    Memory
    4 x OCZ Platinum 1GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
    Sound Card
    SB X-Fi X Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 23" 5MS
    Screen Resolution
    2048 x 1152
    Hard Drives
    2 x Barracuda 7200.10 320GB RAID 0 / 1 x 500GB Maxtor
    PSU
    Seasonic 600W M12
    Case
    CM Centurion 5
    Cooling
    air
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
Thanks so much, thats a good idea to not even need to utilize imaging software. My final bit of research will be to figure out if/how I can boot from a RAID controller card using my motherboard. I dont have on-board raid, so I'll need an add-in card, and I'm not sure how to tell my motherboard to boot from that. I have a GA-EP35-DS3L board if anyone happens to know :)

I will keep you all updated, thanks for the tips and encouragement :D

PS- I know what you mean, my original SATA cables are all coming apart now, so I have some aftermarket ones I "borrowed" from work :P
 

My Computer

System One

I've never done this before, however, I believe if you have proper software comes with the card, it will prompt you to set up before loading window. Why not install the card and see what happen. It shouldn't be much different from on-board controller.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    E6850
    Motherboard
    EVGA 122-CK-NF67-A1 680i
    Memory
    4 x OCZ Platinum 1GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
    Sound Card
    SB X-Fi X Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 23" 5MS
    Screen Resolution
    2048 x 1152
    Hard Drives
    2 x Barracuda 7200.10 320GB RAID 0 / 1 x 500GB Maxtor
    PSU
    Seasonic 600W M12
    Case
    CM Centurion 5
    Cooling
    air
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
Because I dont want to go out and buy a RAID card if it isnt going to work with my motherboard :D But you're right, I assume it would work the same as an on-board controller, I'm just worried about the BIOS settings. I've only had the board for about a month, and the BIOS seems very limited in some spots. For example, I cannot set my memory to run at any speed I want, I have to select from a list of pre-set ratios: 2.0, 2.4, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0. Its weird, and annoying, but it makes me pause whereas I would normally assume any motherboard would have the ability to boot from a RAID card. I mean, thats what they're made for, right? <shrug> We'll see :D I'll let you know.
 

My Computer

System One

Hi asoccerplayer99

you should have no problems with the raid once the OS is installed and set up.

I would advise that you check the documentation on the card you decide to purchase before you spend any money :) . most good manufacturers will post a PDF manual on their website.

I would always advise that you do not use on-board RAID controllers - They tend to use resources from the system whereas a dedicated PCI card will reduce this to a minimum.

One thing to ensure is that before you attempt to install Vista - you have a driver disk that you can use during the install (known as F8 drivers) as vista possibly will not recognise the RAID array during install.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro x64 Latest Release Preview
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer G276HL 27", (DVi) + Samsung 39" HDTV (HDMI)
    Screen Resolution
    2 x 1920x1080 @50Hz
  • Manufacturer/Model
    Real World Computers (Custom by Me)
    CPU
    AMD FX8350 Vishera 8 Core @4GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A78L-M USB3
    Memory
    32GB [4x8GB] DDR3 1600 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Asus nVidia GTX750TI-OC-2GD5 (2GB DDR5)
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xoner DG + SPDIF to 5.1 System + HDMI
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" TV
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal
    Crucial CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SSD,
    Seagate ST2000DM001-1CH1 2TB,

    External (USB3)
    Seagate Backup+ Hub BK SCSI Disk 8TB
    2.5/3.5 Hot Swap Cradle, USB3 + eSata (client HDDs)
    NAS 4TB
    PSU
    Aerocool Templarius Imperator 750W 80+ Silver
    Case
    AeroCool X-Warrior Red Devil Tower
    Cooling
    Hyper103 CPU, Rear 120mm, Front 2x120mm, Side 2x120mm
    Internet Speed
    68 MB Down 18.5 MB Up
    Other Info
    Six Sensor Auto / Manual Digital cooling (Fan) control with Touch control Panel
Thanks for the reply Barman :) I think you may have misunderstood though. I have an existing Vista install that I would like to bring over to a new RAID0 array. I started this morning off pessimistic about my chances, but I'm about to go home from work to try some things out that I have read during the day today (thank God it was a slow day at work :D ) and I'm feeling pretty good about my chances. I even found a RAID card here at work that we bought and never used! Woohoo, I'll save money whenever I can :D Of course, I cant find a box for it, so the only reason I know what kind it is is because I matched a picture on Newegg haha.

I'm planning on finding the drivers for it, and creating a new array secondary to my Vista drive, then buying via download Acronis TrueImage 2009 and using it to mount the C: drive image onto the array. That way I wont touch my original drive incase anything goes wrong, I'll have drivers pre-installed in Vista, and I can later on copy/paste everything over from my old D: data drive.

Wish me luck! I'll update as events unfold :D
 

My Computer

System One

Well, here is my first update.

The RAID card I found laying around at work doesnt have Vista x64 drivers, so I will be needing to go out and buy a new controller card (as I think I mentioned, my motherboard doesnt have an on-board RAID controller). I called a local store and they say they have one thats Vista-ready, so I'll be picking that up shortly. Unfourtunately, it means you will all have to wait on a results-based update until tomorrow :P

As for the planned mode of attack, I believe what I said previously will work. I got in the Acronis Customer Service Live Chat with some guy, and he explicitly told me that creating a before image, building an array and setting the BIOS to boot from it, then re-mounting the True Image image onto the RAID 0 array WILL work. So I believe now its just a matter of getting my controller card and drivers. Hopefully it will be a speedy process after that!

On a related note... stripe sizes. Anyone know of any good guides or FAQs or whatever where I can do some research about it?
 

My Computer

System One

My next and last update! It was incredibly easy, and I am now typing to anyone still reading this from my sexy 1TB RAID 0 desktop PC!

I went to the local computer store and bought a PNY SATA II RAID controller for $35. I put the card in without connecting any drives to it, then installed the Vista drivers from the CD. Then I rebooted, putting two drives onto the controller card, accessed the controller BIOS via F4 when prompted, and created the new 0 array with a 32k stripe size. Next I booted into Vista, which saw my 0 array, and used Acronis to remount the old C: image onto the new array. Then all I did was reboot and unplug my old C: drive.

BAM! Booted right up from the array, all my applications were loaded in a jiffy, and the only thing I had left to do was allocate the unused 700GB by expanding the C: drive, and here I am. It was pretty much seamless. Acronis rules.

Thanks for all the help guys!
 

My Computer

System One

Congrats! asoccerplayer99!! What a feeling when thing go smoothly. Enjoy!!
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    E6850
    Motherboard
    EVGA 122-CK-NF67-A1 680i
    Memory
    4 x OCZ Platinum 1GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
    Sound Card
    SB X-Fi X Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 23" 5MS
    Screen Resolution
    2048 x 1152
    Hard Drives
    2 x Barracuda 7200.10 320GB RAID 0 / 1 x 500GB Maxtor
    PSU
    Seasonic 600W M12
    Case
    CM Centurion 5
    Cooling
    air
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
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