RAID Question

[Max Paws]

Okay, I've got a pair of drives in a RAID 0 configuration on a new Soyo P4x400 Dragon Ultra. The onboard RAID controller will support RAID 0+1 so I want to know if I add 2 more identical drives can I "Mirror my Stripe" without losing any data? Anyone know for sure?

 

[Shroud]

If I remember correctly I don't believe you can break any RAID level array completely and not lose data.

 

[Max Paws]

Well, you can "break" a RAID 1 array and, since it's just a mirror, install a replacement drive and not lose any data. Once you get to RAID 5 you can usually hot-swap and of the drives and also not lose any data.

Unfortunately, with RAID 0, if a drive goes south, you're done! AND, the definitive word from High Point (makers of my RAID controller), you can NOT turn a RAID 0 into a RAID 0+1. I opted for the speed gains with RAID 0 and since I don't feel like spending the $$$ for another 2 drives AND the added headache of rebuilding (again) I'll use my server as the backup system.