Does a RAID 1 array only contain a simple file system? (newbie question)

J

jmk396

Gawd
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Jul 22, 2004
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First off, I'm sorry for all of my recent questions. I'm really having a difficult time trying to think of the best redundant/backup solution for my situation. (eg. I've considered Windows Home Server, Windows Server 2003, Solaris 10 + ZFS, etc)

Anyways, I have one quick quesiton...

If I setup a RAID 1 array on my ICH8R controller, are both drives exact duplicates of simple file systems or do they contain extra "array" information?

For example, if my array is a simple NTFS partition can I unplug either drive from the RAID 1 mirror and insert into a different computer/motherboard and simply access my files like a normal hard drive? ...or is my array locked to the ICH8R controller?

Please tell me it's not locked to the ICH8R controller... I'm trying to get something non-controller reliant so if I change motherboards I don't get screwed.

Thanks for any help!
 
I can't speak to whether the ICH8R can be moved to another non ICH8R, but it is not uncommon for RAID created on one controller to not work on another controller.

The main reason for this post is to make sure that you understand that RAID is not an excuse for not having a proper backup. Sometimes when RAID fails, it fails to the point where data on both/all drives is gone. RAID is only used to ensure uptime on servers. You should still have a proper backup that can be restored to any drive.
 
Maybe what I actually need is a good backup solution....

Maybe something as simply as a program that copies from one hard drive to another every night?

While it would be nice to backup my entire movie collection, I guess it wouldn't be the end of the world if it were lost...

I don't know, heh.

I just really don't want to be locked to one specific RAID controller, etc. I was so close to using Windows Home Server, but it horribly corrupts data if you save incrementally to it... (eg. anything that slowly adds to a single file, or changes sections inside of a file [download accelerator programs, bittorrent, etc, etc], you also can't save Outlook PST files, MS money files, etc, etc, etc...)
 
RAID is only designed to help against hardware failure of the disks. Often it will not work if you take a mirrored drive from an array and plug it into and new setup.
Raid will protect your machine from going down but to protect the data permanently you definately need a good backup solution. External hard drives work good, DVD for say a monthly backup, NAS device if you want it online....
 
I used to use a Promise card with IDE RAID 0 (I guess that is the right number for mirror).

I could take out the hard drives and use them without any problems. I could even put 2 hard drives into a RAID and the Promise card would copy whichever I wanted to the other (rebuild the RAID 0).

But what the heck does any of us know.
 
Best advice:

Get yourself a small stack of harddrives, at least a foot tall. A selection of controllers, and have at it. Do this slowly, or all at once, financially. But thats about the best advice youll find.

Success of one harddrive is considered a fluke, and failure is considered evidence of shoddy manufacturing. :D
 
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