RAID 1 Removing hard drive

[Curbkiddytech]

So I'm very familiar with the RAID 1 setup. Every desktop I've ever worked on for family has a RAID 1 Array. However, I never asked myself the question of whether it is safe to remove a degraded hard drive (while waiting for the replacement to arrive) from the system and run the OS without it. So there is my quesiton to you.

Will the Operating System still run without the degraded hard drive as long as all other drives are okay? Or do you need the degraded drive in the system until the replacement comes to be switched out?

 

[MindoverMaster]

The way RAID 1 works, is that it is mirrored. Same data on both drives. If one fails, the other will take its place automatically. You know how to rebuild a RAID, right?

 

[Curbkiddytech]

Yeah I know. I've done RAID 1 multiple times so I know how it works. To rebuild the RAID you need to first install another hard drive with equal or greater capacity to the still functioning hard drive, add the new drive to the RAID at the controller screen after the BIOS, then when you're at the desktop let Intel Matrix Storage Manager rebuild the RAID. Like I said, I've done this many times before. I just simply wonder if I can take the degraded drive out while leaving the other good RAID drive in and still run the OS.

(And incase you're getting mixed up with what I'm saying, the Degraded hard drive is dead.)

 

[MindoverMaster]

The same data is on both disks. One hard drive will work. It will just break the RAID.