Hello all, having read your "read this before you post" bit I will give you as much info as I can relating to my setup..
my set up is as follows..
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7 GenuineIntel ~3105 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Award Software International, Inc. F2, 11/11/2002
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name MISC-AE89901937
System Manufacturer GBT___
System Model AWRDACPI
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7 GenuineIntel ~3105 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Award Software International, Inc. F2, 11/11/2002
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
User Name MISC-AE89901937\Owner
Time Zone GMT Daylight Time
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 34.28 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 1.93 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP8X (Microsoft Corporation)
Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV/E Processor to AGP Controller - 2561
GA 8PE667 Ultra 2 / pro motherboard.
intel 82540em ethernet controller.
promise 20276 raid controller chip.
2 X 80 Gig seagate st380021a barracuda ATA IV
( 1X 20Gig seagate u6 model st320410a drive that I would like to use..)
My hardware setup knowledge is ok on the basic stuff and I can figure things out fairly well normally by reading throu things etc..but I have a few questions about this RAID functionality which I was wondering if you could help me with please..
I currently have 2 seagate drive 80gig each (i think from memory..) One on the primary IDE and the other attached in serial as a "slave" drive.
My preference with this desk top would be performance, not necessarily data safety..
The questions I have are as follows..
1. am i using the resources i have at my disposal with this system to maximise performance, particularly in data writing /recovery on the hdd's?
2. I have read and understand the principal of the RAID function and if am correct this would speed up data accessing etc.. I would be interested in the RAID 0 striped set up. If I managed to set this up, how would it affect my available storage space, I currently benefit from being able to use the space on both drives. One for music and the other for the OS and other all the other stuff. If I set up RAID 0 - striped -would I still have the sum of the combined space available? As i understand it, if you set up RAID 1 - mirror - then you would only get the real use of the space on the one drive, whilst the other one mirrors your data. If with the striped, DATA is split up into pieces and written/accessed to both drives at the same time, it would seem to make sense that you would still benefit from the space on both drives?? right or wrong??
3. Do you have to wipe your HDDs's before you can switch to using RAID? The instructions I have read tend to focus on a fresh install of the OS and having clean, identical drives preferably? The thing is i have a lot of music data on my slave drive and I have spent quite a long time and effort researching, sourcing and installing the various software I use on the other, would I have to do it all over again? I would obviously prefer not to, I connect via a dongle and that really slows things down in terms of download time etc..
4. I have a 20GIG harddrive from another PC, seagate u6 model st320410a.. What I was interested in doing if it's possible was to install the OS system on that drive use it on the primary IDE and then use my pair of Barracuda's for everything else, set up using the RAID striped array.?? The goal would be to make the machine run faster, by running all the software other than the OS and storing and accessing all program data from the Barracuda's ..
Does this sound like a workable setup? and will it actually improve performance or at least better utilize the full capabilities of my setup? Or would it not work at all because I don't understand things well enough?
5. when (or if..) I plug the HDD's into the RAID sockets???. On my motherboard there are two green coloured sockets labelled IDE3 and IDE4, are these also the RAID sockets or does it not actually matter where the drives are plugged and the machine just sets them up virtually somehow?
6. Currently if I try to enter the RAID facility at boot up, F4 or control S from memory, just to have a little look around
, the machine just ignores the request? Do I need to set RAID up first?
On the one hand, I am interested in doing this just to gain the knowledge, learn some thing new, but conversely I could just plug the 20Gig drive in to IDE 4 and reinstall XP OS on that, then find a way to delete my current OS from my 90gig barracuda. This would be the easiest way of utilising the smaller drive but I wouldn't get the benefit of striped RAID speed, using my machine to the best of it's ability or the benefit of understanding and satisfaction of setting it up..
Thankyou for your time.
Regards,
8)ziggatron IV.
