Need Advice on Setting up RAID!

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joeyll
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Need Advice on Setting up RAID!

Post by joeyll »

Hello...its me again :cool :

I need some detailed instructions on how to go about setting up a RAID configuration on my computer. Does anybody know of any websites that might have that information on it? Also, would I have to buy a RAID PCI card or do you do it directly through your motherboard. As you can tell I have absolutely no knowledge on this subject so I'd be starting from scratch. Also, what are the advantages, if any, to have a RAID setup? Thanks for any advice or info.. You Guys are GREAT!!!

Joey
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FlyingPenguin
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Post by FlyingPenguin »

If your mobo doesn't have built-in RAID then you'll need an add-on RAID controller.

I assume you want to do RAID 0 (striping) to improve access time? Make sure you understand the risks. Raid 0 has no redundancy and more than doubles the odds of data loss due to drive failure as opposed to a non-RAID configuration. If either drive suffers data corruption or crashes you will lose the ENTIRE RAID array and all the data on it.

You want to make sure you have a reliable data backup system and you should use a drive imaging app like Norton Ghost or Acronis TrueImage to make an image of your boot partition or entire drive in order to facilitate disaster recovery.

Frankly, unless you specifically feel you need RAID 0, you're much better off just going with a non-RAID SATA2 drive and controller which is just as fast - if not faster - than an EIDE or SATA1 RAID 0 array, without the risks.

RAID tutorial: http://www.ecs.umass.edu/ece/koren/arch ... dhome.html
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joeyll
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Post by joeyll »

Thanks alot Penguin...you've helped me make up my mind to NOT go with a RAID configuration. Sometimes I get caught up in all this new technology and want to add it to my system..like my dual video cards....but in the end I find out the hard way that I dont need it. Anyway, I've been worried about losing my data but I already have Norton Go Back installed ( it came with my computer) but I just downloaded Acronis TrueImage (for free) :) and am in the process of creating an entire image of my 200gigs worth of info on my 300 gig HD. I'm not too sure how reliable Norton Go Back is or if its what I really need...Later man,

Joey
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Post by FlyingPenguin »

Stay away from Norton GoBack.
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joeyll
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Post by joeyll »

Why is that? Should I completely remove it?

Joey
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Post by ZYFER »

GoBack is more of a glorified system restore utility then anything, good for the basic user who knows next to nothing, but anyone who is an advanced user or plans to get more advanced, will typically steer clear of it.

One thing if the large amount of hard drive space it can use up. If you are worried about your data that much, Raid 1 may be the better way to go. Naturally, there is no replacement for regular backups.
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Post by FlyingPenguin »

GoBack dramatically slows your system down, and it's a disk manager application which creates it's own proprietary disk partitions.

With GoBack installed you will find it difficult to make Acronis or Ghost images because a Go-Back partition has to be imaged in it's entirety, not just the data, so a 100gb GoBack partition will take 100Gb to image, instead of the actual size of the data.

Also, GoBack partitions cannot be accessed from outside Windows - the GBack manager must be booted first so utilities like BartPE and UWBCD won't work with it.

And finally, because of the GoBack manager on the drive, you can never reformat that drive properly without first removing the GoBack manager.

Better to just make monthly Acronis images and backup your data daily or weekly.
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Post by joeyll »

I'm having alot of trouble making any type of image with Acronis. The only backup I've been able to make is using Winbackup, which is just in a file on my desktop. Its pretty good but I need an image on DVD. SO, I think I should completely remove Norton GoBack, just do an uninstall of it. If you think so as well please let me know. Maybe after I remove it I can get Acronis to do an image of my HD. Also, Zyfer, I've pretty much decided to stay away from RAID even though my MB supports it and has alot of helpful software included with it. I'm having to much trouble as it is with installing this 2nd HD now to try and do much of anything else. Now I'm having heat issues with my video cards. Less than 3 minutes after I booted up one was at 141 F and the other was at 135 F. This VERY annoying yellow triange with an exclamation point keeps popping up in the icon tray every 5 minutes or so. Its a heat warning from my video cards. This is a brand new system and its already falling apart. I'm pretty disgusted with it already.

Joey
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Post by FlyingPenguin »

Acronis will image a GoBack partition, but it'll be the full size of the hard drive.

I would either disable or uninstall GoBack. Backup your data first since something can always go wrong.

I never do an Acronis image directly to a DVD. I save the image to a 2nd hard drive (internal or USB works fine) and then use Nero to burn the image files to DVD(s) if I need to.

I would recommend you select 700Mb as the max size for the image files. That forces Acronis to chop up the image files into 700Mb chunks that can easily be stored on any media.
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Post by joeyll »

Well I give up. I thnk my Seagate 300 Gig HD is messed up. When trying to make the images with Acronis True Image 9.0 I got errors stating this: ERROR WRITING THE FILE FUNCTION=writefilenocache A Device attached to the System is not Functioning (0XFFF0)

Then I got lots of codes and Tags...LOTS of um.
I figured out the yellow triange with exclamation point in the bottom right tray is something called "DELAYED WRITE FAILED" I'm sure that has something to do with the HDD. It pops up every 2 or 3 minutes. If I have more than 3 or 4 Internet Explorer windows open for more than 30 minutes or so they all crash and send me to the desktop. It doesnt crash the system just Internet Explorer. Thats been happening for about a week now. I guess I need to replace or either try and format my HD which I really HATE to do. Maybe I can at least Ghost all my info to another Drive but with the Write failing or failed I dont know. Do you have any ideas Penguin or anybody? I'm really just disgusted with this.

Joey
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Post by FlyingPenguin »

Delayed write failures are usually associates with USB drives. Rarely with IDE or SATA drives. I've never seen one happen to either. You may have a bad SATA cable, or there may indeed be something wrong with the secondary drive.

I would change the SATA cable and then run the drive manufacturer's diagnostic on it. Some of them have an online diagnostic, but most have an app you download that creates a bootable floppy or CD.

If you bought the drive retail, it came with a disc you can boot with that will run a diagnostic on the drive. If the drive fails the FULL diagnostic with an error code then contact the manufacturer for an RMA replacement. If the drive is less than 30 days old and you kept the box, return it to the place of purchase.

Drive manufacturers will do an "Advanced" RMA if you give them a credit card to guarantee it. They will not charge you unless the old drive is not returned. They'll rush out a new drive - usually 2 day air - and you send the bad drive back in the same box.

If it passes the diagnostic then reformat it (I assuem there's nothing on it right now) and run a scandisk on it, then try making an Acronis image again.
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joeyll
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Post by joeyll »

oK....I'll try that. One more question. Do I need to do a format of the drive once I get it installed or do you not need to format SATA drives? Also, I bought the OEM version of the drive. It came with no manual or disk. I did download Seagates Sea tools which does a diagnostic test of the drives. My Boot drive passes all test with flying colors but I still get the write failure errors every time I try to burn or image ANYTHING. I'm changing out the SATA cables on both drives and going to install them that way shortly. I'll let you know what happens..Thanks Penguin,

Joey
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Post by ZYFER »

All new hard drives come unpartioned and unformatted, you will need to do so. If choosing not to use the manufacturer's utilities and you have Windows 2000 or XP installed you can easily format a hard drive with Windows 2000 or XP by right-clicking My Computer, then clicking Manage and go to Disk Management.

Either that way, or go to Start - Run - diskmgmt.msc

Once in Disk Management, you can right-click on the drive you wish to partition and/or format. As well as intialize it if needed.
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joeyll
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Post by joeyll »

Can you believe all this was because something was wrong with Norton GoBack? I couldnt Install my 2nd HD..Then I couldnt even boot up...having all sorts of error messages not even related to a HD then come to find out my video card has been burnt out for probably a month...Thats the problem with SLI. You really cant tell, as far as I know, whether or not both cards are working. I had to take them both out and check each one in the PCI-E slot to figure it out. I wish a knew a way to know for sure if BOTH video cards in a SLI config are functioning, and no, device manager didnt tell me it was down. Anybody know of a way to tell? I got another 6800XT coming since it was still under warranty though...Norton Go back really sucks..they've changed the name now..its called....something else..cant remember..

Joey
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Post by nitro237 »

Can you believe all this was because something was wrong with Norton GoBack?


hehe, while there are some good Norton apps out there, as you have found out there are some real stinkers too. In the tech world, sometimes it is best NOT to go with the biggest seller. ;)
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