Transfering RAID drives...

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Dark Prodigy

Jawbreaker
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
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I currently use RAID 0 for my storage solution. How hard would it be to move my raid 0 drives to a totally different motherboard and still have all my data. Is it simply a matter of enabling Raid on the new motherboard because it has onboard raid also. Do I need a raid driver disc for the new motherboard if my drives are already raided? Is it better to use a RAID card in this situation?.

I know many questions... hopefully a simple answer. Thanks.
 
All you need to do on the new motherboard is enable RAID and add the drives to the raid setup. Then they should be raided and all your data should still be safe. This worked for my motherboard sometime ago when I had two raptors.
 
That is exactly what I need to hear. My only concern would be that its a completely different brand motherboard. Not sure if this is a legit question but, my raided drives would have my old motherboard drivers on it. Wouldn't this be a problem?
 
Are the drives boot drives? If so then yea you would need raid drivers for them. If not then no.

As far as moving them to another motherboard. Backup your data first. They may or may not move over ok.
 
swatbat said:
Are the drives boot drives? If so then yea you would need raid drivers for them. If not then no.

As far as moving them to another motherboard. Backup your data first. They may or may not move over ok.
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Yes.. these are my boot drives that hold my OS and pretty much all my files. How do I load RAID drivers on these drives from a different mobo without a reformat and reinstall?
 
Dark Prodigy said:
Yes.. these are my boot drives that hold my OS and pretty much all my files. How do I load RAID drivers on these drives from a different mobo without a reformat and reinstall?
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I'd look into resealing the image.
 
Dark Prodigy said:
What exactly does this mean..? Guess I'm a newb on this subject matter.:eek:
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You know with OEM computers it makes you go through the setup again for windows like entering in user info, sometimes serial number, etc?

With a full reseal it does that and tries to find all hardware overagain. Best pratice for switching to a different motherboard other then reformating.
 
swatbat said:
Yea search on the net for info on it. Useing sysprep you can "seal" a copy of windows again.
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Thanks for the replies so far. So, this sysprep will basically remove my old motherboard drivers and not disturb my data so that I can boot up my RAID drives and install the new motherboard drivers without conflict, right?

So, how do I install the RAID drivers on the new motherboard without a fresh windows install? I've only installed RAID at the very begining of a fresh windows installation when it prompts you to.
 
The methods described will MOST LIKELY work. Backup your data, then try it out. Things might work, they might go terribly and irreversibly wrong.

Good Luck.
 
Dark Prodigy said:
That is exactly what I need to hear. My only concern would be that its a completely different brand motherboard. Not sure if this is a legit question but, my raided drives would have my old motherboard drivers on it. Wouldn't this be a problem?
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While you may have wanted to hear that, it's not entirely accurate. If you are transfering one NVRAID to another, then you are fine. If you are transferring a Intel Matrix RAID to an NVIDIA NVRAID controller, then you are screwed.

With RAID controllers, you will likely have to re-install Windows to get it to boot. This may not be the case for you, but be preppared, because that's how it usually works.
 
Dan_D said:
While you may have wanted to hear that, it's not entirely accurate. If you are transfering one NVRAID to another, then you are fine. If you are transferring a Intel Matrix RAID to an NVIDIA NVRAID controller, then you are screwed.

With RAID controllers, you will likely have to re-install Windows to get it to boot. This may not be the case for you, but be preppared, because that's how it usually works.
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I see...I believe the new motherboard has NVRAID (it has an nVidia chipset) and from what I gather, its simply a matter of enabling the NVRAID in the BIOS of the new mobo and selecting which sata ports to enable the RAID. At least I think that's how its going to work.

But my concern is motherboard drivers also. Going to a completely different motherboard, would I run into problems with the old motherboard drivers that are installed on the drives? Or is it simply a matter of running DriveCleanerPro for the chipset, LAN and port drivers to get the old mobo drivers off, then installing the new drivers for the new motherboard?



 
Dark Prodigy said:
I see...I believe the new motherboard has NVRAID (it has an nVidia chipset) and from what I gather, its simply a matter of enabling the NVRAID in the BIOS of the new mobo and selecting which sata ports to enable the RAID. At least I think that's how its going to work.
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If your RAID was created originally on a NVRAID controller, then the configuration settings stored on the drives should be readable by another NVRAID controller. Once enabled correctly in the BIOS, everything should be ok. However, that still doesn't mean that your OS will load correctly. If your new motherboard drivers are incompatible with the old ones, you may not get the system to boot. (This is why you should remove such drivers, and sysprep the OS prior to the motherboard swap.) Additionally, if you are switching from another type of RAID controller, that configuration data won't (or probably won't) be compatible with the new controller and you'll need to create a new RAID array anyway.

Dark Prodigy said:
But my concern is motherboard drivers also. Going to a completely different motherboard, would I run into problems with the old motherboard drivers that are installed on the drives? Or is it simply a matter of running DriveCleanerPro for the chipset, LAN and port drivers to get the old mobo drivers off, then installing the new drivers for the new motherboard?



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Like I said, it may or may not work. Really you should always re-install your OS anytime you swap out motherboards. Also, depending on the version of XP you are using, you may screw up product activation and or experience BSODs on startup. You may end up re-installing Windows anyway. (Avctivation does not apply to corporate copies of Windows XP.)

Back up your data, and plan for this to fail. Then proceed accordingly.
 
Ah, I understand fully. Damn good help. And yes my current RAID drives were created with the NVRAID controller (A8N SLI Premium) I didn't trust the Silicon Image RAID for some reason. And since the new mobo has an nVidia chipset it might have NVRAID too (hopefully).

Hmm... now to go and learn more about this sysprep...
 
Dark Prodigy said:
Ah, I understand fully. Damn good help. And yes my current RAID drives were created with the NVRAID controller (A8N SLI Premium) I didn't trust the Silicon Image RAID for some reason. And since the new mobo has an nVidia chipset it might have NVRAID too (hopefully).

Hmm... now to go and learn more about this sysprep...
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Most NVIDIA chipset based boards have some kind of NVRAID implementation. So you should be in ok shape there. As for the Silicon Image controller, they typically don't perform as well as the ones integrated into the chipset. The possible exception is the Silicon Image controller on the P5W-DH which is supposedly a true hardware RAID.
 
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