Best way to install OS on SSD with RAID 0 as storage??

[irishbug]

Hello folks, good to see you all today. I received some great assistance from some of you recently, so I thought I'd toss this one out there and see what you thought. I have been trying to install a Crucial C300 SSD drive onto my board, (which everything I have is listed below in profile section) and then I want to run 2 WD Caviar Blacks in a RAID0 configuration. The problem is that every time I install the OS (win 7) to the SSD, part of the boot files, or some other part gets loaded onto the WD's, it's like I can't keep them separated. Also, I tried installing the RAID setup on the GSATA's and they are slower than you know what. I'd much rather install them on the Intel SATA ports instead. How do I install this type of configuration and avoid the file crossing problem? Also, once I do figure out how to do that, should I make the RAID drives dynamic, do they have to be initialized so I can view and use them for storage? If someone has done this type of install, I'd really appreciate some advice on the matter. Thanks in advance

[absic]

Hi first off the WD Caviar Black aren't designed for RAID. For that you need their Enterprise version Hard Drives. I discovered this, along with Dark Mantis, the hard way! 

[Dark Mantis]

Bad news I'm afraid! The Western Digital Blacks are no good for RAID arrays. This comes directly from the manufacturers website. It is all to do with the fact that they don't support TLER and so either get dropped from the array or don't even get picked up in the first place. The SSD is fine as a boot drive and should be run on the SATA3 port.  You are not the only one on here to be caught with these WD Black drives. Both absic and I purchased them for the express reason of RAIDing them.

[irishbug]

Bad news I'm afraid! The Western Digital Blacks are no good for RAID arrays. This comes directly from the manufacturers website. It is all to do with the fact that they don't support TLER and so either get dropped from the array or don't even get picked up in the first place. The SSD is fine as a boot drive and should be run on the SATA3 port.  You are not the only one on here to be caught with these WD Black drives. Both absic and I purchased them for the express reason of RAIDing them.

Before I bought the SSD, I ran these two drives in a RAID 0 configuration with no problems. The biggst problem here is I am unable to keep OS files from installing onto the drives when I run the install. However, I do appreciate the input as to how these drives may perform as a RAID duo.

[absic]

When I am installing the OS I usually only have the drive that I'm installing it onto in the PC. I add RAID arrays or other HDD's after install. This prevents Windows from writing files on to other storage devices because they are not there! 

[Dark Mantis]

Yes! Let's see even Windows screw that up

[absic]

I'm sure it will find a way to do even that! 

[irishbug]

When I am installing the OS I usually only have the drive that I'm installing it onto in the PC. I add RAID arrays or other HDD's after install. This prevents Windows from writing files on to other storage devices because they are not there! 

I'll give that a try, but I've been doing this so many days now, that I'm wondering if I have tried that already LOL It has been a pain in the butt doing this. I don't know if it's because I run the SSD from an an asus controller and the RAID 0 from the intel ports that messes things up. I'll give this idea a shot, but I seriously feel like I have tried doing that already and something didn't work right like absic115  said  When I get home from work, I'll give that one a try and report back later tonight. I'm going to go back to the intels because they are much faster than the marvels. Thanks for the ideas.

[Dark Mantis]

Definitely agree about the Intel ports being better than the marvell. I think absic's idea is the best way to go though.

[irishbug]

Agreed, and yes, there was a huge difference in HD Tune benchmark tests between Marvel and Intel.  I was bummed out last night after I installed everything and ran the benchmarks, totally unacceptable difference. Thank you guys.

[Dark Mantis]

Good luck and let us know how you get on.