RAID ONLY Boot drive for O.S.?

[rivrbyte]

RAID Boot drive Only for O.S.?

I don't know what the difference is with using my WD RAPTOR as a boot drive for the OS and apps,then using my 500GB for storage.....OR someone telling me to RAID the 74GB, then put ONLY my Operating system on it. Isn't that the same thing?

Is there any way, (or do I even want to) Install the O.S. on the 74GB Raptor, then install programs to the storage Drive? Or do they all belong on the same drive? I'm trying to use more resources on my Photoshop and Studio Pinnacle Video Editing.

I presently have three internal hard drives.

Western Digital 74GB RAPTOR,
Western Digital 500GB HDD, and a newly bought
Western Digital 2 TB Caviar Green HDD, which will also be used for saving huge video files.

When I installed XP Home 32 Bit, a few years ago, I used the WD Raptor for boot drive for the O.S. and installed programs, and the 500GB for storage.

In using Pinnacle Studio 15HD, it installs different files all over the boot drive and the 500GB storage drive, and it’s very hard to know where all these needed files are, also need to increase resources when I use both Photoshop and Studio.

Someone mentioned to use ONLY the WD 74GB RAPTOR to boot my operating system by USING RAID, and use both the other two drives for applications, and storage….is this an accepted way to configure a system so the O.S. and programs works faster, and more efficient? Thank you!

I have not used the RAID option before, and wondered if it’s hard to do? I can’t wait to dump XP and get the Pro Win7,so I’m upgrading MoBo hardware first.


Now I'm thinking of just using my 74 GB Raptor for an extra Storage HDD, then using the 500GB for my boot drive.BUT the consensus is the raptor is faster for apps and OS.

Thanks again?

 

[Red Falcon]

I don't know what the difference is with using my WD RAPTOR as a boot drive for the OS and apps,then using my 500GB for storage.....OR someone telling me to RAID the 74GB, then put ONLY my Operating system on it. Isn't that the same thing?

No, the first method, you have the OS+apps, the second method is just the OS.

If I were you, I'd ditch the Raptor and use that 500GB, it will be leagues faster than that old Raptor could ever hope to be. Even 2x Raptors in RAID0 would have trouble keeping up with it.

Someone mentioned to use ONLY the WD 74GB RAPTOR to boot my operating system by USING RAID, and use both the other two drives for applications, and storage….is this an accepted way to configure a system so the O.S. and programs works faster, and more efficient? Thank you!

If I were you, I'd just stay away from RAIDing two Raptors, they won't be as fast as a single 500GB modern 7200RPM HDD.

Most people only do this for installing their OS on a SSD, then apps go to another HDD. This is mainly done due to limited storage on smaller SSDs.

Also, it sounds like you only have one Raptor. You need a minimum of two in order to do RAID, that's what RAID is, Redundant Array of Independent Disks. Meaning two or more drives.

Now I'm thinking of just using my 74 GB Raptor for an extra Storage HDD, then using the 500GB for my boot drive

Do this, the Raptor is not faster for OS or apps, not when compared to a single modern 5400-7200RPM HDD.


Also, if you ever do use RAID, using FakeRAID (aka motherboard RAID) will work great with Windows and is very simple to setup through the BIOS or UEFI.

 

[rivrbyte]

Thanks for the chiming in guys!

Raid is for two same HDD's. OK..Good to know, since I only have one anyway. I obviously did not know. YES, I only have one Raptor, a 500GB, and one 2TB HDD, and one 500GB External HDD.

Well, I was not going to RAID only the Raptor by itself without a partition on it, ( I did not know it has to be mirrored HDD'S) what I was confused about was to Install ONLY the WIN7 OS on the Raptor, then was not sure If I could install the programs on the storage drive, to save resources on the Raptor. I did not know many people dislike the raptor so much...old school. Does the term "SSD" mean Solid State?

So the consensus is to dump the Raptor and install the O.S., CD/DVD Rom Drives,(C and all programs on the 500GB, then use the 2TB for storage backup. or now are we talikng about Partitioning the 500?......or keep it all on one?

I just would like NOT to keep having to free up resources when I'm working with a video editing programs like STUDIO 14,15HD Ultimate, as well as Photoshop. The Studio program installs their different files along in the Program folder, on the Raptor boot drive, which fills up too rapidly. I did make a Path to place the video files on the storage drive,but was told they all have to be kept together for faster archiving. I had some in the boot drive, and others on the storage drive. it was a disaster trying to find video files to re-burn DVD movie projects, they were not there.

Silly question ...I presently have about 50GB of music on my 500GB HDD. When I install the 2TB HDD, could I move these music files to the 2TB and delete everything on that 500GB HDD, instead of having to move all the songs from my External HDD back to the 500GB??? or is it best to wipe all the drives before the win7 install?

Thank you ever so much!

 

[Red Falcon]

Just run your OS and apps on the 500GB, then any completed projects can be moved to the 2TB or external. Dump the 74GB Raptor unless you really need the space, its time is up.

Yeah, you can just move your music to the 2TB drive, then delete it from the 500GB.

You don't need to wipe all of the drives, you are only installing Windows on to the 500GB. It would be wise to move your music off first, then format the drive during the install.