RAID?

[LFCJohnSmith]

You'll have to forgive my lack of knowledge with regards to RAID, but can I set up RAID on any mobo? I know that in order to set up a number of drives to appear as 1 big drive all the drives have to be the same make and model, but can I add an extra HDD to the PC at a later date and have my PC read it as the same HDD (like in RAID)?

 

[kmote]

Most motherboards support some type of RAID, if yours doesn't then you can always buy an adapter. The drives do not need to be the same model or make or even the same size to be put into an array.

 

[LFCJohnSmith]

How do you set RAID up then on a MOBO, and can you add extra drives at a later date? What is the adapter that you use and where does it attach?

 

[Hefemeister]

What are you planing on using your raid array for?
RAID - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

what motherboard do you have?
most boards will run raid0 and raid1. Many will run raid5 and some will run raid10 or 0+1

 

[LFCJohnSmith]

I am going to buy a HDD but when I buy another HDD instead of adding more partitions to the drive which would happen if i just added the new HDD I would like it to just increase the size of the partitions.

My MOBO is a foxcon 45GM.

 

[KSoD]

Yeah that isnt possible what you want to do. First off when you create a RAID Array you MUST reinstall Windows. Next the truth is that the 2 drives act as 1 drive. So you dont get the combined space of the 2 drive. Just the space of 1 drive.

The final fact is that adding a new hard drive you can not ever just add space to pre-existing partitions. Doesnt matter if it is RAID or not. It isnt possible. You can only use a single drives space to increase or decrease the partition size. Adding a new drive, if not in RAID, will always give you a new partition/drive. No way to just "add" it to existing drives.

 

[Hefemeister]

If you wanted to add size then it would be raid0 which requires a reinstall. raid1 would be a mirrored array and would not add size and requires a reinstall.

Not to mention raid0 is not very safe for important data.

Partitions are a good thing. I always run one drive for os and programs and one for data which facilitates a easier windows reinstall when that time comes.

So regardless of if you board supports it or not it does not sound like what you want.

Next the truth is that the 2 drives act as 1 drive. So you dont get the combined space of the 2 drive. Just the space of 1 drive.

True of raid1 which is a mirrored setup. raid0 gives you the size of both drives combined as 1. raid5 uses 3 drives and you get 2/3 or the total combined drive size.

 

[LFCJohnSmith]

Thanks chaps.

So say for instance I have 2 HDD drives in my PC one for the OS and one for back ups, but I have to do a complete re install. When I have re installed my OS will I still be able to access the data on the HDD that was used for back ups? The reason I ask this is because I am aware that if you add a new HDD to a pc you need to format it in order for it to be off any use, I may be mistaken on this but I thought this was the case.

 

[kmote]

You wouldn't have to format the second drive when reinstalling onto the first, if that is your question.

True of raid1 which is a mirrored setup. raid0 gives you the size of both drives combined as 1. raid5 uses 3 drives and you get 2/3 or the total combined drive size.

s = size of smallest drive
x = number of drives

RAID 1 = s
RAID 0 = x*s
RAID 3,4,5 = (x-1)*s
RAID 6 = (x-2)*s

 

[LFCJohnSmith]

You wouldn't have to format the second drive when reinstalling onto the first, if that is your question.

So you can also remove your backup HDD and place it into a second PC?