RAID...on Windows XP Pro or Server 2003

mixteus · 26-10-2006, 11:05

Hi All,

I am considering setting up a backup solution/server.

I would like any information on one drive to be mirrored to another.

Would a RAID array be the way to achieve this,if so how many drives would I need.

The box I have to house this equipment in can hold 3 hard disks and the m/board I will use is this

A8n-vm Microatx Socket939 Nvidia Geforce 6150b + Nforce 430

Would running the operating system off one drive with the other two providing the RAID array be the way to go?

Also I may want to add a DVR card to capture video that may be accessed remotely.

Any links or tips are all appreciated,

The Jackal · 26-10-2006, 11:23

Depends on the type of RAID you want....

For typical home users RAID1 is your best best where 1 disk mirrors another exactly and also prolly all that your motherboard can support anyway.

Therefore ratio of disks is 1 to 1

mixteus · 26-10-2006, 11:39

How do you implement it?

The Jackal · 26-10-2006, 11:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by mixteus

How do you implement it?

Firstly of course back up all your data

2 ways software or hardware RAID

(1) Hardware implies that the chipset on the motherboard if ( it is capable ) does the mirroring for you and is invisible to the the operating system. You will really need to check if your harware supports this by taking a look in the BIOS.

(2) Software RAID Windows manages the RAID the basics are to create a dynamic disk and then apply RAID - one word of warning once you convert to dynamic disk you cannot revert back.

Have a look on google for many examples on how to do this.

BIG NOTE on (1) Hardware RAID some RAID controllers claim that they are fully harwdware RAID but are not and offer a pseudo soft/hard solution which includes loading windows drivers etc I recogn this is where you'll be.

PS Before setting out on the project it would best for you to google for success/failure stories for your mobo and RAID 1

eg

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=win...-GB:unofficial

mixteus · 26-10-2006, 11:58

Cheers CRC for your quick response.

Probably more questions later?

The Jackal · 26-10-2006, 12:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by mixteus

Cheers CRC for your quick response.

Probably more questions later?

If I'm around mate I got to dash out now but ppl in the know will also be along soon...

Googlegroups and Google mate : It can be a tricky project to get right first time.

Good luck

mixteus · 26-10-2006, 12:12

Thank you.

Head spinning already : )

MovedGoalPosts · 26-10-2006, 14:50

OK a word of warning on RAID setups, that I learnt to my cost. It's no substitute for an independent backup system.

RAID can protect you from an individual hard disk failure. Alternatively RAID can speed up read or write access times, by spreading the data (striping) across multiple disks. But it's also vulnerable.

If the Operating system corrupts, or there is a hardware failure, perhaps to the RAID controller, the records that determine what information is where can be lost. At that point you are in dodoo, and reliant on disk recovery software.

So by all means use RAID, to cover most day to day problems, but have a separate backup system for anything critical.

SMHarman · 26-10-2006, 15:22

As Rob said - if the Raid array goes lala (rather than a disk failiure) you just have 2 garbage copies / disks full of idenitcally corrupt data instead of one.

The Jackal · 26-10-2006, 16:07

Tend to agree with the posts from the boys above.

RAID can be problematic but when/if you get it working properly then it can be absolute sweetness but we're talking RAID5 or more with expensive controller cards.

As I tried to say previously read up on it look at the pros / cons / failures and successes before you commit.

As it goes we have *ALL* had problems with RAID anyone who says otherwise may have not used it in anger or abundance.

My last RAID1 failure was a couple of months back I spent ages a few years back setting up that RAID array so that if it did fail then the secondary config would take over and did it : Like **** did it NO

I had to get my ass down to the datacentre and swap the disks over : grrrrrrrrrrr
Luckily I had no data lost but I made sure I disabled the RAID controller and set up a job to rsync the disks - job - done.

They sync up every 2 hours or so and rsync is so fast it only takes a minute.
(so what if you lose like 2 hours worth of data if something went wrong better that than 2 corrupt disks)

Talking of which I have just rsync'd my lappy over the network and even that only takes like 2 minutes.

Good luck mate and good luck in researching alternative solutions.

26-10-2006, 16:17

Raid in the home = waste of time and effort just back up or use ghost

mixteus · 26-10-2006, 17:22

Excellent posts,

that has thrown the cat.

CRc you mention Sync,how and what do you use.

What I am looking to backup and not loose are Photos docs,to be made available to a wired/wireless network.

Keep it coming,thank you all so far : )

The Jackal · 26-10-2006, 18:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by mixteus

Excellent posts,

that has thrown the cat.

CRc you mention Sync,how and what do you use.

What I am looking to backup and not loose are Photos docs,to be made available to a wired/wireless network.

Keep it coming,thank you all so far : )

Mixteus 'rsync' is a commandline linux unix app for synchronizing files and block devices.

I have tried quite a few windows ones but found them 2 slow.... I know there are a few windows rsync wrapper bits of software but they are for commercial use and pretty expensive.

You know what I have found to actually work well on windows is ghost and even windows own internal synchronize schema has it merits.