Thread: First time running RAID

Hello,
I have a lot of data I want to make sure I don't lose, so I was thinking of setting up some sort of RAID array (probably 1).

My system specs:
Antec 900 Case
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.2Ghz Stock Cooler
Gigabyte GA-790XTA UD4 Mobo
WD1001 FALS Caviar Black 1 TB HDD
4 GB Patriot DDR3 (@ 1600 Mhz)
XFX Radeon HD 5850



I did a little research, and apparently most WD drives fail in RAID for some reason (some sort of firmware issue). I always thought that RAID had nothing to do with hardware (I want a software RAID). Anybody have any recommendations for HDDs for RAID? It would be great if somebody had the same mobo as mine. Right now, I'm looking at two of these:
[Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive]

Samsung drives should be fine, but...

I have to say I'm not sure a RAID 1 is the best solution for your goal. There are lower tech ways of just maintaining a single redundant copy of important data -- automated backup programs, etc. You can get in over your head with RAIDS where the OS is treating multiple drives as a single volume, whether it's a RAID 0 to increase speed, a simple span, or a higher number to achieve redundancy. Redundant RAIDs are really for IS geeks who need to keep server infrastructures up at institutions, not for simple home users with less than 1TB of stuff. I'm a Mac person, so I don't know specific PC software, but I'd say keep it simple if possible.

I don't think it will be a disadvantage to run RAID 1, but I see your point. How about RAID 0, would that improve any gaming (loading times, etc); do you think its worth it?

I'm really interested in setting up RAID 0 in my computer. Does anyone know what hdd would be the best to purchase for this.

Studies have shown that raid0 can increase read/write speeds quite a bit, and the samsung f3's will do just fine for that. If u do that on software it will be alot cheaper ofc but you also will get some aditional load on your CPU ( nothing much tho ).

Like ssadmar said, there are other backup options to have in mind b4 going RAID.
Usually u have 2 choices, u can either backup remotely ( over the internet ) or locally ( to another disk ).

If u're planning to backup large quantitys of data, u're stuck with the local backup option and for that it would be better to have a raid1 rig mirroring your stuff over to another disk. However, if u're looking to backup data not larger than 50/100gb( for fast ness sake ) u have online paid services for that ( i recommend Online Backup, Computer Backup Software & Remote Backup – Carbonite.com i've used it once for a client and it worked great for him).

Heres a list of the top 5 backup utilities over at lifehacker
Five Best Windows Backup Tools

U can find there both online and offline apps, for remote or local backuping.

Regarding games and disk performance nothing beats a solid state drive ( SSD) so if u have extra money i would definitely recommend having one, tho they are still very expensive and dont have that much space on them :\

Bottom line is, disk's will eventually fail and die theres nothing we can do about it, imo raid rigs for home use are waste of money. They were designed for more robust systems and not personal computers. There are viable ways to backup your data, either drop it on dvd's or get software to do a local backup to another disk, simple and easy and best of all u can schedule these events :) Also remember to run Spinrite ( GRC*|*SpinRite 5.0 to 6.0** ) on them, i garantee they will last a bit longer :)

Originally Posted by Xreference

I don't think it will be a disadvantage to run RAID 1, but I see your point. How about RAID 0, would that improve any gaming (loading times, etc); do you think its worth it?

Raid 0+1. More expensive, as you will have to buy 4 drives, but you get the read/write speed of raid 0, plus the redundancy of Raid 1.

Raid 0, there is no redundancy, so if one drive fails, you lose all your data. I have 2 WD 640GB Black in Raid 0. Havent had an issue with them failing, so you should be fine. But yes, in general the Black drives are not made for RAID (according to WD..which is complete bs, because you should be able to run any drive in RAID. They have special RAID edition drives which are more expensive and a single change in the firmware. Western digital recently changed the firmware so that you can no longer change black drives into Raid Edition drives, but if you are lucky enough to find an older Black drive, you can make the change - read: How to convert a Western Digital “Black” drive into a “Raid Edition” drive. « StringLiterals.com)

Originally Posted by Xreference

Hello,
I have a lot of data I want to make sure I don't lose, so I was thinking of setting up some sort of RAID array (probably 1).

My system specs:
Antec 900 Case
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.2Ghz Stock Cooler
Gigabyte GA-790XTA UD4 Mobo
WD1001 FALS Caviar Black 1 TB HDD
4 GB Patriot DDR3 (@ 1600 Mhz)
XFX Radeon HD 5850

I did a little research, and apparently most WD drives fail in RAID for some reason (some sort of firmware issue). I always thought that RAID had nothing to do with hardware (I want a software RAID). Anybody have any recommendations for HDDs for RAID? It would be great if somebody had the same mobo as mine. Right now, I'm looking at two of these:
[Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive]

Do u want to use a hardware raid or a software raid?
If u go for a software raid then go for raid 5 else good for hardware raid

I know i'm jumping into this just a little bit late, but my advice with RAID is to make sure you understand everything about it. I work for an IT consultant company and we do work for lots of businesses in the area, and I can't tell you how many times i've seen some low-level tech break a RAID Array.

IMO The only time RAID is really useful is when you're trying to have backups that can be rebuilt faster than restoring from a nightly backup. (Mainly for production servers). Yes you do gain some performance when raided, and yes it's great when you want to make one large logical drive on your machine, but it's really not worth the effort. If you're not doing some type of raid with striping (redundancy) you're basically playing with fire. So this requires you to get minimum of 3 disks that you can raid together. Which at that point, you're wasting 1/3 of your storage for backup.

Yes, it seems RAID is only useful for big servers. I think I will up most of my stuff on DVDs (since it's anime anyways). But I don't see the point to backup software (unless is some sort of remote backup); why can't you just copy and paste?