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What advantage will I see from RAID?

M

mrmagoo_83

2[H]4U
Joined
Aug 8, 2002
Messages
3,068
Current system:
1 200GB PATA
1 80GB PATA
1 20GB PATA (Server, dont ask)

I am looking at buying either two more 200GB PATA, or two SATA drives for more storage. I was thinking about RAIDing them together....but why?

I mean RAID 0+1 would be the way I would end up going, which would mean 3 drives, right? Two for the RAID, one for the backup?

My problem with RAID is the fact that I spend $100/drive, thats $300-$400 for the setup. Store all my data on there, then one of those drives fails and I lose all that data, so what exactly is the point?

Oh, the reason I wanted more storage was for all the MP3s, Videos, and ISOs I have, if that matters.
 
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=874828 <- Should be stickied <-

0+1 is 4 drives, with the capacity of 2. However, with RAID 0+1, your data stays online if one drive fails, and may even stay online if the right two drives fail. Don't count on that second possibility though.

RAID is no replacement for backups, and doesn't deliver a performance boost in the tasks of the typical [H]'er. Stick with single drives and freqeunt backups of data you can't simply reinstall.
 
Thanks Doug. I will stick with Single drive setups then.
I need to get a DVDBurner, and a faster Proc so that I can Winrar faster and back stuff up to DVD. If I attempt to backup my current setup I would need a few hundred CDs, and probably a new LiteOn once I was done.

I have another question though. I currently have an A7N8X-Dlx, which has SATA and IDE, can I run two SATA drives and 4 PATA Drives? Or should I just buy a PCI SATA card and go that way?

I am looking at upgrading to 64Bit ASAP, so a new MB will be required, I need to see what Asus has out there.
 
Sticking two drives on the same PATA channel is not recommended. Buy SATA drives if you can. If you get an NF4 board, that gives you four on chip SATA and 2 PATA ports. That also puts your LAN on chip, leaving most if not all of your PCI bus bandwidth free, which we'll get to later.

Give your DVD Burner a PATA port to itself, then pick up as many ~200-250GB SATA Drives as you can afford. You'd be interested in the <$100 200GB Seagate 7200.7 SATA at TD (no rebates) that was posted in Hot Deals a while back I'd expect - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1197381&CatId=0 As for your existing PATA drives, put your 200GB on the other mobo PATA port, and get a PCI addin card for any other PATA drives you need to hook up.

BTW, using a hard drive as a backup is a good idea, but not RAIDed, and here's why:

If you schedule your backups periodically rather than have the drives tied together in RAID, you get some extra protection for your effort, most notably from viruses and your own error. If a virus hits a RAID array, it affects all drives in the array. If you delete a file/folder on a RAID or reformat/repartition a RAID, every drive in it gets nuked. If you have manually or automated periodic backups, you are protected from these woes. Yes, you have to go to the trouble of scheduling the backups and letting them run, but it's worth it IMO. Good luck!
 
Man I am glad I met you :)

I know a ton about PCs, but just not one area specificlly. I will probably just purchase a single 200GB for now, maybe two, depends on what the wife allows, lol. Stick it on my SATA. That will give me 1 SATA, but will still leave me with my two PATAs on the same IDE channel. When I get the new MB and stuff I will set it up as you said. Currently I have no PCI cards at all cause everything is all onboard.

Are there any NForce4 boards that aren't SLI? Cause currently I dont wish to have to purchase a new video card.


Well, I found one Nforce4 board that did not require a PCIX GFX Card, and its a BioStar, so yea thats out. Damn...I dont have the money to buy a new PCIX GFX Card, CPU, MB, and HDD.
 
Well, you might be able to swing it, although I must confess I don't know what your budget is. Also, throw a new PSU on the list of stuff to buy, as you'll want a 24 pin unit that is a step up from a TT for a K8 system with many hard drives. Take a look Fortrons - good power for not a lot of $$. Given that, looks like this project is going to have to wait for another paycheck or two, although I can help you out on the PCI addin card - I'll send you a PM about it.

If you're not overclocking, the Foxconn NF4 Ultra board looks to be solid for right at $100, $150 for a Winchester 3000+, and $75-80 for a Fortron PSU with ATX 12V 2.0 (Dual +12 and 24pin mobo connector). That's $350 not counting drives, which look to run about $100 a pop right now if you can get a good deal.How far can you stretch your budget?

EDIT - My bad, you've got RAM for it.
 
The nForce 3 Ultra boards also have 4 sata and 2 pata ports. I just picked up the MSI K8N Neo 2 Platinum, and have been very happy with it so far. Got it here . The nForce4 is the PCIe implementation of nForce3. SLI or not, they won't have an AGP port. If you do find one with an AGP slot, it will be running in PCI compatibility mode, basically AGP 1x. So, in your upgrade process, if you want to keep your AGP card, get an nForce3-based platform.

 
I will have to check my messages at home, for some reason they dont work at work, really odd.

Anyway....I have to have new memory? Why? I thought the NForce4 boards still used DDR? My PC3200 isn't good enough?

The PSU I can understand if its for the connector, otherwise 420 should be enough, until I start adding HDDs, dang didn't think about that.

Guess I will have to wait around. I will do what I can when I can. Hopefully my wife will get that job she had an interview for this morning.
 
My bad, Your DDR is still good. I edited the other post and took the RAM out of the equation. I also agree that NF3 is a good route for you, although you don't get SATA-II on NF3, which may come in handy later. You'll get to keep your vid card though.
 
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