What do I need/How do I set up raid?

GibsonLA

n00b
Joined
Apr 14, 2010
Messages
46
So heres what I have:
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache
CPU: i7-930

I'll be honest... I really don't know much about RAID.... But from what I hear "Raid 0" is a good setup for a boost in speed and performance. I know I would have to buy another identical drive to the one above correct?

Aside from that do I need to purchase any other cables or components? How do I actually set up a RAID configuration. Which drive to I load the OS onto etc?

Or would it be better to just got a cheap and small SSD and then just keep the WD 640gb as storage? I'd prefer to not drop another $200-250 on an SSD if I can get similar performance by just buying another WD 640gb black.
 
RAID0 will boost your performance by allowing you to read and write to both drives at once. It will also give you the ability to use the capacity of both drives as if it were one big drive, so you'd get a single 1280GB space to play with.

On RAID0, the data is "striped" between the 2 drives, so half the data is on one and half is on the other. This increases performance as the data can be read and written to 2 places at once. However, if one drive fails, you lose the data on both, so it's more risky than a single drive.

To set up a RAID array you need to firstly go into the BIOS and change the ports on the motherboard so they are set up in RAID mode, usually in the storage configuration page (or similar). Then when you boot, in the POST screens you will get a message about what drives are connected, followed by some sort of hot-key you need to press, and this will take you into a menu where you configure your array. Making an array clears all the data on the drives, so be careful! Once you've set it up, you install the OS like normal, but you may need to install extra drivers before the array is detected (on an X58 board I didn't have to with win7 and vista). If all goes to plan, it will just show up as a single big drive to install your OS on.

So to sum it up
Raw data transfer speeds are faster, but your mileage might vary somewhat depending on what you use your pc for
You need 2 or more identical disks for RAID0
Risk of losing data is increased

The performance wont even come close to an SSD though imo
 
If you're really considering using RAID0, make sure you get into the habit of backing up your computer regularly. If you loose buy 1 disk to failure, your data is pretty much irrecoverable. Statistically speaking, as the number of drives increase in a RAID0, the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) goes down, proportionately.

You have been warned!

Generally speaking, the performance increase you will gain from using RAID0 will not offset the pain you suffer if a drive fails. Play it safe and get a SSD, or faster drive. If you are hell bent on using RAID0 for speed, use RAID10 (striping and mirroring) or RAID5 (striping with parity). You will need 4 drives or 3 drives minimum respectively.

More info on the different types of RAID here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID
 
What are some faster drive solutions for $80-$125?

You guys have made me too paranoid about using raid 0 =)
 
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