Adding a Raptor to make RAID0

[Pkirk618]

Im new to this Raid stuff but I do know that RAID0 is fast. Now, I have a 37G already installed and I just purchased another one. Is it possible to add this drive to make it RAID0 without doing any formatting?

 

[DougLite]

RAID-0 is fast under multi user loads. It does nothing for single user stuff like like game level load times, boot up, etc, although it can help a little bit when you're conducting transfer of huge files. One 74GB Raptor will smoke 2 of the 37GB units, even if they're in RAID-0, and the 74GB costs less than two 37s. Hate to burst your bubble, but it's the truth. There are actually 7200 RPM drives available (Maxtor DiamondMax10/MaxLine III and Hitachi 7K250) that perform as well as the 37GB Raptor, for less than 1/4 the cost per Gigabyte of WD360GD.

And no, I am not aware of any storage systems capable of morphing a SLED (Single Large Expensive Drive) to RAID-0, at least not in the consumer space. Backup and reformat if you insist on going with RAID-0, but with this warning: RAID-0 cuts the reliability of your drives in HALF, because if either drive fails, you lose all of your data. RAID-0 is worse than pointless in a desktop setting - it's actually harmful to reliability and you only break even on capacity/performance. Just use two single drives.

 

[aug1516]

I think DougLite pretty much summed it up. Raid-0 is not really of use unless you are working with large files all the time. For typical desktop/gaming use you would be better off with a single faster hard drive.