Raid5 Between Formats

[doubleJ]

Hello...
I'm looking at the highpoint rocketraid 1640/1740 or the promise fasttrak tx4310 and I just wanted to verify something.
With either controller, I can create the array outside of the os and it will persist between reformats, correct?
If I used a non-raid controller and did the xp soft raid5, it would not persist between formats, correct?
The os would be on a separate drive from the array.
Do any of these cards support splitting the drives up in different arrays (I can't think of what that's called)? It might be interesting to have a small raid0 for os, spanned across the drives, and then have the extra space as raid 5 for storage.
JJ

 

[drizzt81]

1. XP does not have RAID-5. Yes I know there's a hack...
2. What do you mean "between formats"? Formatting the array will 'delete' the data on that array.

 

[unhappy_mage]

OS raid generally stores its configuration on the disks with the data on them; that would mean you could format a seperate OS disk and have the data remain intact. I haven't tried this with XP, though, so test it before you believe it.

Microsoft doesn't allow you to install to a software-only raid that needs two or more disks to boot. That means you'll need a raid controller that supports raid 0 in drivers or in hardware to install the OS to raid 0. Also, it's generally regarded as a good idea to keep your OS on a separate spindle from your data.

 

[doubleJ]

2. What do you mean "between formats"? Formatting the array will 'delete' the data on that array.

I meant formatting the drive/partition that the os is on...
I just wanted to check, since these aren't "hardware" raid cards, that the array is independant of the os.
I've worked very little with raid cards. The only actual experience that I have is with the intel onboard raid and I know it has it's own bios to manage the arrays with.
JJ

 

[drizzt81]

I meant formatting the drive/partition that the os is on...
I just wanted to check, since these aren't "hardware" raid cards, that the array is independant of the os.
I've worked very little with raid cards. The only actual experience that I have is with the intel onboard raid and I know it has it's own bios to manage the arrays with.
JJ

If your striped volume is not the OS partition that your format, it should be recognized by your new install of WinXP. It may require "importing" the disks/ volumes.