Raid Suggestions...?

[SmokeyMcPot]

This is my first go at a RAID setup. I want to be sure I do not lose my DATA, I could almost care less about the programs breaking under a failure. I have a 3 drive setup, dedicated OS 160gb, and (2) 300gb. I want maximum speed for games mostly, and media im not too concerned about speed wise. I will be using this array to run all my programs on as well. So from what I know about RAID...its seems to ME that a 0+1 configuration would give me the data striping i desire and the data security, but I keep hearing RAID 10 might be the way to go.
2 questions:
1. Could I buy a 4th hard drive to use as a backup drive seperate from the RAID configuration, and some type of software to back it up there? That way I get the data security, the full 600gb, and the performance in RAID0.
2. What RAID config do you think is best for me?

I am using a P5WDG2-WS Pro with the onboard Marvell RAID controller

[PrairieDawg]

Re: Raid Suggestions...?

I have no RAID experience but if you want to lessen the odds of lossing your data an even safer option is to use an external hard drive for backups and unplug it when not in use. RAID does have its advantages but if you have a hard drive failure that takes out the drives then your information is gone. Same goes for lightening strikes, fire , etc. If you are truely serious about data protection then using an internal hard drive is not necessarily the best option.

[SmokeyMcPot]

Re: Raid Suggestions...?

I am just simply wondering if due to striping, mirroring, and parity that the information is pulled off the drives correctly. Since striping puts blocks of bits spread between the hard drives, would a backup drive still read that correctly? I dont want the backup pulling blocks of fragments from each drive, but instead the fully completed file...get what I mean?

And btw - i would put the backup drive into an aftermarket cooling drive bay. Not a big fan of external. Not worried about power surges either, got that covered.

[Kheldar]

Re: Raid Suggestions...?

first thing to consider is what your raid card supports a lot will only mirror or stripe.

basically for data security, you want mirroring, ie each drive will have a complete copy of the file.

if you had 3 * 300G you might be able to go for mirror and stripe but an external backup device would make more sense than adding a 3rd drive.

Personally I'd start looking at a NAS solution

http://www.ht.com.au/N/-29+-82+-135/list.hts

has a heap of different solutions (you'd probably be able to find cheaper somewhere else)

or use FreeNAS a linux distro which does the same sort of thing if you've got old PC equipment lying around

[casecutter]

Re: Raid Suggestions...?

Backup external > RAID.

If you have a GOOD RAID PCI card, then running 0+1, 5 or 10 is not a bad idea. When you are using a motherboard RAID solutuion, it will eat up ALOT of CPU cycles to run those. I would recommend 2 small drives in raid and a large drive for data and backups. Anything over 250GB for RAID is silly.

[SmokeyMcPot]

Re: Raid Suggestions...?

if I went the route of getting a controller card, would pci vs pci-x make any significant difference other than price in cards?
got any suggestions on a decent cost efficient card?

[Aguiluz]

Re: Raid Suggestions...?

if I went the route of getting a controller card, would pci vs pci-x make any significant difference other than price in cards?
got any suggestions on a decent cost efficient card?

If I were to buy a seperate controller card, I would always go to PCI-Express not PCI slots. The PCI slot's relatively slow speed will bottleneck your RAID somewhat.

[Poseidonas]

Re: Raid Suggestions...?

-Don't worry about readability of the drive when using RAID then transferring data to an external unit. Data will always be complete and readable. The parity's are only discerned from within the controller, not on the drive itself. The output is identical to a single drive in terms of readability.

-RAID with mirroring and striping is better than pure striping (RAID 0). But you can do something else. You can use RAID 0 on the identical drives and then use an external (or the 160) to backup manually what you want saved using some sort of backup software like Acronis True Image ($40), using max compression of course.

-Try not to say PCI-X when you mean PCI-Express. PCI-E is appropriate. PCI-X is an actual technology used in MACs in the past (G4 era).

RAID with the mirroring helps where you don't have to manually restore damaged data: it is done automatically. So its simpler to use overall but it means more resources are consumed, and the drive is always active and not independent of the computer in case of a severe crash or surge.

What I am working on is making a RAID 0+1 array and then getting an external to backup the whole thing. I'll be doing RAID 0+1 with 2x250GB, 1x500GB, and 1x500GB USB/Firewire , using Acronis True Image 9.1 Workstation...my mobo does not support RAID 5 or 10.