I need RAID explained simply please.

[Shovelhead]

This would be my first time exploring this option in my limited experience of casually building machines.
I want to do what a lot here do and have a drive devoted to a ghosted
main drive in case of failure. Is there somewhere that I can find simple instructions?

 

[Biker Scout]

Raid Kills Bugs Dead.

 

[Rodi]

Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. You have the options of real fast speed (multiple disks pushing data), or security, or some where in between. You need software (RAID Software) and hardware (Harddrives, Computer/Server). I used a speed setup years ago when performance was really needed on an old mac.

 

[nbarrett]

Here is a quick explanation of the different types of RAID.

http://www.build-gaming-computer-guide.com/hard-drive-raid-explained.html

 

[B Snyder]

For 2 years I had a raid setup like you are describing. Then the raid card failed. Now I just manually back up to 1 internal and 1 external HDD with Acronis.

 

[Poconopete]

+1 for Acronis + an additional Norton backup

 

[Biker Scout]

Offline Back Up! Cheap insurance, and let those guys worry about drive configurations.

I used Mozy, and it saved my ass when my computer was stolen! Lost only a couple of files that I had on my desktop that never made it into the designated back-up folders.

ALL of my fonts were recoverable, art files, photos, even personal stuff, like music, kid's pics etc...

As soon as I got a new computer I was up and running within a day.

 

[signage]

Another vote for Acronis! What if you get a virus and don't realize it for a couple of days then the original HD goes down now your other drive now has the virus!

 

[Shovelhead]

Thank you all...I'm aware of how to back-up and I subscribe to Carbonate as well as an external HD. I'd just like the luxury of an extra drive all set to go.

 

[BrianKE]

In a nut shell RAID allows you to spread data across two or more HDD for various reasons, usually either speed or data protection. While not a requirement it is usually suggested that you use the same size (and the same brand) of HDD for all drives in the array.

While there are 7 or 8 variations of RAID I will give you an overview of the 2 you are most likely to use.

For speed you would set up a RAID 0 array which means data is stored on two or more drives allowing the computer to read and write from multiple sources concurrently. With RAID 0 the storage is simply the sum of all the drives (2 500GB drives = 1000GB drive). In a RAID 0 array the any piece of data is ONLY stored on one drive and almost always files are split between the drives available. This allows for very fast read/writes. The downside to this is that you now have multiple points of failure and if one of the drives in the RAID array fails the entire array could be lost along with your data. I have used this on gaming machines and design machines when working with large files but always backing up critical data to some other drive (another HDD, CD, DVD, etc.).

For data protection you would set up a RAID 5 which requires at least 3 HDD. In a RAID 5 data is written to any of the drives but the data is also backup on the other drives. With RAID 5 the storage size is the sum of all the drives minus one drive (3 500GB drives = 1000 GB array). You do get a little of the speed boost with RAID 5 as you do with RAID 0 but because it also has to write the data to the other drives (and verify it) RAID 5 is not as fast as RAID 0 but still faster than a single drive. The best thing about RAID 5 though is that should one drive fail you simply exchange it with a new drive and the data is restored to it using what is backed up on the other drives.

Once you have a RAID array setup it looks like any other drive within your OS. In my setup I have a design machine with a RAID 0 array using 2 250GB drives. I also have a networked server machine with 3 500GB drives for storing files. Once a project is complete I move all associated files to the server. This keeps my design machine fairly clean and protects the data.

HTH

 

[ddarlak]

in a nut shell, you want RAID 5 using 4 VelociRaptor 160 GB drives ((in RAID 0) these 4 drives work as one) with a terabyte drive as your backup to these (the completion of the RAID 5)

you will then know what speed is

 

[omgsideburns]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

 

[Shovelhead]

Awesome info.....thank you all.....maybe may inquiring doesn't even involve RAID? Always learning something new,

 

[choucove]

Most of your newer motherboards today support RAID on the integrated SATA controllers, and even additional PCI-Express controller cards for RAID can be relatively inexpensive. Most motherboards will support at a minimum RAID 0 or RAID 1, though many today are now supporting RAID 10 as well. This basically combines RAID 1 and RAID 0 together using a minimum of four drives. The drives are set up in two pairs, striped together for the increase in performance, and then one set is imaged as an exact duplicate of the other set creating your fault-tolerance. RAID 10 offers the benefit of increased speed and the reliability, but it also requires a minimum of four identical hard drives and will only have half of the overall space for storage (as the other half will be an exact mirror of the first half)