GA-880GA-UD3H RAID Options

[KEP]

Hi --

New here.  And first build, too.  I am still in the planning phase, actually.  Have bought the GA-880GA-UD3H board (rev 2.1), and got a good deal on a couple of SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ drives that I hope to use as a RAID1 array for data.  So I'm left contemplating the boot options, and have just about shot the budget. 

One thing I read in the mobo manual concerned me.  Or at least caused a raised eyebrow.  On p26, it says:

A RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration requires at least two hard drives. If more than two hard drives are to be used, the total number of hard drives must be an even number.

Now, I understand that a 0/1 array itself needs to have an even number of drives.  But one option I was thinking about was having a single boot disk.  (Probably an old/recycled WD2500 until SSDs fall a bit more in price.)  So, finally, the question.  If I have a RAID1 array for data, do I need to do something like a RAID0 array for the boot, or will a single drive work just fine for that?

Thanks much...

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte Forum.
No problem in using a single drive(SSD or magnetic) to boot from and then two drives in a RAID array for data storage.

[KEP]

Much appreciated, Dark Mantis. 

I figured as much, but that sentence (from the manual) was really worded ambiguously, wasn't it?

I guess I'm a little unsure how to set it all up in the BIOS.  Right now, the internal drives would all be SATA2.  And I'll have two eSATA connections I'd like to be hot-pluggable.  My assumption is, the internals will use SATA3_x ports, and I'd connect the externals to the SATA2_x ports?

[Dark Mantis]

To be honest KEP this isn't my section. I normally deal more with the Intel platform and so am not very familiar with these AMD boards and so I will let Absic or someone else better qualified on this equiptment answer you.

[KEP]

No worries.  Gotta say, I really like the vibe here.  Just looking for what I suppose amounts to a "Dummies Guide" on this kind of stuff.  I've done a lot of it before, but it's always been kinda seat-of-the-pants, try-and-hope, and would like to ramp up the confidence a bit.  :-)

Thanks...

[Dark Mantis]

Hey, you will get all the help you need here no problem. There are always plenty of members here to help out and it is a nice friendly community(Especially on the Intel side)
Absic is the AMD moderator and he is very knowledgeable.

[absic]

Hi there,
I see you have scared DM off by getting too technical for him. Good for you. We don't want any of the Dark Arts, Intel, mumbo jumbo over here! 

Before we get down to the nitty gritty of configuring BIOS a quick question.
You say you want to use 2 e-SATA connections that you would like to be hot-swappable what are these for?

Another thing you may want to consider. Before you start installing HDD's you might want to make sure which version of BIOS your mobo has shipped with as a quick check has shown that BIOS F5 updates the RAID ROM Version and it could help prevent any problems with your proposed RAID Array.

BIOS Updates can be found here: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3520&dl=1#bios

[Dark Mantis]

Damn! I knew it was tempting fate saying his name out loud

[KEP]

Heheheh...  Definitely a cool community...   

For me, moving to AMD feels like a move to the Dark Side, but that does seem to be a Good Thing overall. 

@absic, one of my other shiny new toys is the CM690II Advanced.  It has both a standard eSATA port and what they call an "External SATA X-dock" on top.  Very cool design, that I'm surprised I've never seen before!  You basically just slide any random SATA drive onto it, to use as a temporary external.  Not sure what I'd be using the other one for yet, was just thinking ahead to the day when I might have a more "semi-permanently" attached external backup device (as I do now, more commonly, with external USB drives) and still want to slide one into the X-dock for a quickie.

Definitely planned to check the BIOS rev first, as well.  So F5 is a good target?  (Saw another thread were an F5a, I believe, had been mentioned.)

Thanks...

[Dark Mantis]

For me, moving to AMD feels like a move to the Dark Side,

See Darth, the pupil learns fast!

[jannie]

Hi Kep and a big welcome from Scotland..Yes you found the right place for help..

[KEP]

Thanks, Jannie!  I will probably need it.  There's this old saying...

    "Beware of programmer's carrying screwdrivers."

 

[KEP]

@absic, hope I didn't mumble the wrong incantation by admitting to only now switching to AMD?   

Would it help if I said you got a cool avatar?  I'm thinking, that's either Kaukonen or Brombeck?  Sure I've seen it, or something very similar before.  Well, either way, definitely a sign of very good taste. 

--

Still working on my <mumble> spells...

[jannie]

Hi Kep, can I ask you to have a look at our poll,,,,help for absic and DM (suggestions )

[absic]

The latest BIOS for your board is actually F6 and you can safely update to this version as it should include the RAID ROM Update.

If you are going to use the e-SATA header on the Chassis (it looks nice) you might encounter a few problems. AHCI, in theory, allows hot-swapping of devices but there have been several posts on the forum of it not working in the manner expected. It seems that, if you connect the e-SATA header to one of the SATA ports on the motherboard, then any attached devices will only be properly recognised if they are switched on before you BOOT the system. I have no first hand experience to confirm this though.

Another issue that can sometimes arise is a problem with DVD/CD drives not being recognised when attached in AHCI mode. Looking through the Manual for your Mobo, if I was setting it up under the heading Integrated Peripherals I would:

1. Set OnChip SATA Controller to enabled
2. Set OnChip SATA Type to AHCI
3. Set OnChip SATA Port4/5 Type to As SATA Type
4. Set OnChip SATA RAID5 Support to enabled (you said you want to use RAID 5 so this needs to be set)
5. Set OnChip SATA3.0 Support to Disabled. (At the moment you don't have any SATA3 devices and this can be changed in the future when you upgrade HDD's)
6. Set Onboard SATA/IDE Ctrl to Enabled
7. Set OnBoard SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode to IDE (Connect your DVD/CD Drive to one of these ports)
8. Set Onboard SATA/IDE Mode to IDE

@absic, hope I didn't mumble the wrong incantation by admitting to only now switching to AMD?   

Would it help if I said you got a cool avatar?  I'm thinking, that's either Kaukonen or Brombeck?  Sure I've seen it, or something very similar before.  Well, either way, definitely a sign of very good taste. 

No problem with you only just switching to AMD. Welcome to the light side. 

My avatar is one that I designed, quite a long time ago, as a logo for myself when I was a professional musician. Pleased you like it1