Raid O to 1

[OPUS1]

I had a clicking incident last night, all seems to be fine today!
But I'm runnin Raid 0 and maybe should get some protection till I'm certain all is right.
Can I go from Raid 0 to Raid 1 without losing all data?
Why does't my raid array recognize S M A R T? The IDE HD does.
Thanks!

 

[Snugglebear]

An array is a logical combination of multiple drives, and as such does not allow access to drive-level attributes like SMART since it's not a real drive. You have to examine each drive individually for SMART warnings, temp readings, etc.

As for converting to RAID1, you cannot do this on a consumer level controller without making a complete backup of your data and reloading it after you destroy the stripeset and create a mirror in its place.

 

[agent420]

Time to make sure backups are up to date (you do have a backup plan with raid0, right?)

 

[Ice Czar]

Originally posted by Snugglebear
An array is a logical combination of multiple drives, and as such does not allow access to drive-level attributes like SMART since it's not a real drive. .

unless your controller specifically supports it, which no onboard controllers do that I know of, several highend card do however, generally reported through a management software package
(for instance I get rudimentary aggregate SMART info with my SX6000 and Promise Array Management software, specifics arent supplied however, and Ive never had an alert, so I dont know what the reporting features encompass)

As for converting to RAID1, you cannot do this on a consumer level controller without making a complete backup of your data and reloading it after you destroy the stripeset and create a mirror in its place.

As Snugglebear said, since you probably have an onboard controller, you dont really have many options other than the one he outlined. If you had a drive equal to the the combined size of the array, you might be able to mirror it in software RAID (meaning youd convert your disks to Dyanamic, which has drawbacks) Id try to clone the array first (that may or maynot work)

On a card that supported it, (with say 4 channels) it could be possible to add two more HDDs and build a RAID 0+1, but then Its very doubtful youd be able to migrate your current array to a new card anyway

Id try the clone option first
followed by a simple copy\backup\reinstall

if you elect to go the Dynamic Disk route
readup first

Dynamic Disks
Description of Disk Groups in Windows Disk Management
Dynamic vs. Basic Storage in Windows 2000
Basic and Dynamic Disks @ Windows & .net Magazine
HOW TO: Recover an Accidentally Deleted NTFS or FAT32 Dynamic Volume
Dynamic Disk Hardware Limitations (No firewire, USB, removable or laptop)
HOW TO: Set Up Fault-Tolerant Sets on Dynamic Disks in Windows 2000
Dynamic Disk Numbering and the DmDiag.exe Tool
HOW TO: Regenerate a Dynamic Mirrored Volume in Windows 2000
Restrictions on Extending or Spanning Simple Volumes on Dynamic Disks

Limits of Dynamic Disks in Windows 2000
LDMDump (Freeware utility) @ sysinternals
LDM Database @ Linux-NTFS project
LDM FAQ @ Linux-NTFS project

 

[OPUS1]

Hey Thanks all. Ive been runnin all day with nary a click! Nothing like alittle motivation to get ur butt in gear. Been meaning to back it up anyhow! So I guess I'll just keep runnin till it craps out. Funny thing though in all these years of comping This is only the second drive I've had to act up. O well I guess I'll find out how good the 5 year warranty is. Thanks again.