I've been reading some regarding Raid setups and find myself more confused than when I started. I'm currently building a new PC and using the Asus A8N-32 SLI_Delux mobo--it has some Raid functionality built in but would I be better off with a hardware Raid controller - something like this (http://www.3ware.com/products/serial_ata2-9000.asp)

I personally prefer a dedicated RAID controller. 3ware is the BEST of the best, hands down. Even has a leg up on Promise and Adaptec in my book. 3ware writes special data to your drives which makes it almost impossible to nuke or corrupt your array of drives. I know people using the 12-port 3ware cards store 2TB - 3TB (yes, that's 2,000GB to 3,000GB of data) for personal use and wouldn't trust anything else.... we're talking about serious repercussions from data loss.

I had some issues with my on-board RAID controller on one of my old Abit boards (caused noise to the speakers) and also with a Promise-based controller on an old Asus board. I won't usually trust them - a dedicated 3ware card has its own on-board processor, so it doesn't eat board resources per se.

To understand RAID levels and their benefits and perks, I usually recommend this site:

http://www.acnc.com/04_00.html

Choose a RAID level from RAID 0 to RAID 0+1 and it will show you how it's configured, list pros and cons, etc.

Normally people stick to RAID 0 (stripe two drives together as one big drive, better performance) or RAID 1 (mirroring to secure an add'l copy of your data).

Whether RAID is for you is questionable. You need to decide if your computer demands it. It's not necessary to use everything on your motherboard. Ask yourself:

Do I need to use a mirrored RAID array to preserve my data? Is it worth wasting an entire drive for it, or can I backup my data to DVD?

or

Do I need to use a striped RAID array for an extra 10% of performance? Am I okay with the fact that losing one drive due to a failure basically kills ALL of my data on both drives?

It's all about risk or risk management. The big question is: what's your data worth?

raid is a waist if you are goning to run only two hard drives...because they have to mirror each other talk about a waist of space...now if you are going to run like four hds then its not so bad becase they use a parity bit to check the accuracy of the data....but who in there personal computer needs 4 hds

raid is a waist if you are goning to run only two hard drives...because they have to mirror each other talk about a waist of space...

RAID is not only used for mirroring. You have two basic options with two drives - using a pair of 200GB drives as an example:

Option 1) RAID 1 array w/2 drives: 1 drive mirrors the other, your computer sees a single 200GB drive

Option 2) RAID 0 array w/2 drives: both drives are striped together, yoru computer sees a single ~400GB drive

now if you are going to run like four hds then its not so bad becase they use a parity bit to check the accuracy of the data....but who in there personal computer needs 4 hds

I do. I'm laid out with 4 drives right now and have somewhere near 300GB of MP3's I'm trying to keep safe. I can't afford to lose that stuff.

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I do. I'm laid out with 4 drives right now and have somewhere near 300GB of MP3's I'm trying to keep safe. I can't afford to lose that stuff.




EXACTLY, in this day and time I also have data that I do not want to lose. Drives are super cheap these days so why not?

For Shifty, if you are using RAID 0, how are you protected from data loss. From what I have read 0 is a performance boost over a single drive but has the same risk?? Am I missing something?

Quote below from the link you posted. . .
"Not a "True" RAID because it is NOT fault-tolerant
The failure of just one drive will result in all data in an array being lost"

I use RAID 1 (2 arrays, 4 drives) on my mp3 server which is mirroring. I use RAID 0 (2 drives) on my gaming rig for size and performance.

If I said I was using RAID 0 anywhere above, it was a typo. I don't see it though.

I use RAID 1 (2 arrays, 4 drives) on my mp3 server which is mirroring. I use RAID 0 (2 drives) on my gaming rig for size and performance.

If I said I was using RAID 0 anywhere above, it was a typo. I don't see it though.


It was not in this thread--it was something I remembered from one of your previous posts.

To give you an idea of what I am building this week, I have an $1800 pricetag on my rig coming in this week.

(1) AMD 64 4000+ San Diego core 90nm CPU (2.4GHz, but faster than a 3.2GHz Pentium4 CPU)
(1) eVGA 133-K8-NF41 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI motherboard
2GB RAM: OCZ DDR400 Platinum 2-3-2-5 (model #4002048ELDCPE-K ... 2 x 1GB sticks)
(2) eVGA 256-P2-N518 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 (running in SLI mode)
(2) 80GB SATA II Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 hard drives (running in RAID 0)
(1) Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W power supply
(1) ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro HSF COMBO CPU cooler
(1) Lian Li PC-V1000 Plus case

Also, it looks like the card I linked to is is not compatible with my mobo. Any reccomendations for an alternative controller?

Yeah, that's my gaming rig. I'm running RAID 0 on that, it shows up as one drive @ 147GB in Windows.

Figures. I hate Asus. So many problems, so finicky. Where did you see it wasn't compatible? I'm just curious for future reference.

For the rig above, my data on my gaming machine is not important. All the important stuff is backed up to DVD. I'm just using the on-board controller. For my MP3 server, my super important data that gets streamed by several machines all over the house (my roommates play them, my TiVo plays them to the stereo, etc) I am using the 3ware card because I really cannot afford to lose 4,000+ CD's worth of music.

Figures. I hate Asus. So many problems, so finicky. Where did you see it wasn't compatible? I'm just curious for future reference.


Here (http://www.3ware.com/products/pdf/Motherboard_compatibility_list_2006_01.pdf)
This is a tested compatibility list so it might work but I don't want to spend the $ unless I know it will work with my mobo.

I don't see why it wouldn't work. I think you might have it backwards. Normally people install it unless it's on a list :D

I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Damm you Shifty--this PC build keeps getting more expensive. :lol:

it's like any other project. you want a hot rod and got your mind set on it, it's gonna cost money.

again, i want to reiterate - if you don't *need* to be running RAID, you shouldn't bother.

there are other solutions - if you want to go RAID 0 with, like (2) 80GB drives and want data security, just buy a 160GB drive and use some file sync utility to mirror the RAID 0 array data onto the 160GB drives. If the array pukes, just mirror things back on. i would use Ghost myself.

again - only if you feel you need to use it. for my gaming rig, i am trying to squeeze every last drop of performance, hence why i'm doing RAID 0 for the 1% performance gain i might see. for my data server, i'm just going for data security. :) what do you need your RAID for?

My two wants are increased performance and data security. Mirroring the Raid 0 array onto an additional drive sounds like the ticket--or maybe a raid 10 set up :hmm:

RAID 10, LOL. i'll spend $2000 on an entire system, but I won't get overboard with stuff like that :D i wouldnt' do RAID 10, I would go with a 4-drive RAID 5 setup - you'll see more performance out of it. i think as long as you don't lose more than 1 drive at a time, you're OK with data security.

but do ya need it? :D

Shifty, I prolly don't need half the crap I'm putting in this system but, I suppose, it makes me feel better getting 'everything'. Again, I am confused on the setup (further evidence that I don't need RAID :) ), from the link you posted I gathered one could implement a 4 disc RAID 10 array without too much trouble--what am I missing?

You could do it, I just prefer RAID 5 over RAID 10. Personal preference. It's your rig, do what you want :D