Moving RAID across motherboards

[Hikari]

Hello guys.

I've always wanted to build a RAID5 system with 4 big HDs, but it scares me. What will happen when I replace my mobo or it breaks and I have to replace without planning?

Will the RAID system keep working on the new mobo, or will I risk losing all my data?

And, when I decide to upgrade my HDs, will I need 2 PCs to mount both RAID systems and move data across them?

[Aussie Allan]

  Just like anything.......once you have done it once ... it's not a scary thing anymore

 To answer most of the other questions .....Think of it this way...............when you have a single drive, you back up your Data and settings...this is good, because this is the most critical thing you cannot replace ... but if that single hard drive fails......All 0 and 1s are toast....as in all the OS , Programs and data are gone.......Once you replace the drive with a newie.....  you will still have to reinstall the OS, all your Programs from disc or download and re-activate them ....( you do have a copy of all your activation codes don't you). .... then finally copy back your carefully saved data and settings ... so how long has that been .... 3 days? ...maybe 4 ?

 When you have Raid , you clone your drive/s .... even 6 drives in Raid 5 looks and feel like a single logical drive ... so it can be copied ( cloned ) to another single drive that you can connect externally to your computer ... this is your master copy ... if you have a catastrophic failure of say your whole system ,eg Lightening strike ... you can rebuild your system back to it's original condition and load back your clone ... not only will this load back the OS but everything........even your programs will be reinstalled including the activations applicable .... in fact it will be exactly the same the minute prior to when the clone was struck .... even you desktop will look exactly the same

  Funny thing is also ...Raid 5 works best with odd numbers .... When I was using Raid for near on 5 years ... I found 5 drives to be the sweet spot....this way you can have a hot spare in the system ready for a drive failure if lady luck strikes...this way you still have your redundancy while you rip out the bad drive ... RMA ... and get your replacement .... when it arrives ... you pop it back in as a hot spare ... many Photo houses use this practice because it works.

  I have a setup where I won't go into details but .... if I have a catastrophic failure say at 10:00AM and there nothing to replace .... I can be back working in under 1 hr and the most I can loose is about 6 hrs of work ..... My clone continuously updates 4 times a day.

  Hope this answers your questions

  Aussie Allan

 

[Hikari]

Tnx for the reply.

Yes I know how good RAID5 redudancy+performance is.

My concern isn't if a drive fails, it's when I'm replacing the mobo. Will the new one recognize and use the old array? Or is the array bound to the RAID controller that created it and won't work on a newer one?

Today if I'd build a RAID5 array I'd get 4 or 5 2TB HDs, so that'd be around 6-8TB... too big to make a full copy. And when I decide to upgrade the drives I won't have enough space to backup the whole data, remove drives, add new ones, build new array and restore all data back.

So I fear being stuck on a mobo if I use RAID.

[Aussie Allan]

   Hikari   

  When you clone with some of the better Raid cloning facility (Acronis True Image Home 2011/2012) if you have 450GB used on a 8TB array ... only the 450GB is targeted ... so in effect you could clone with Acronis onto a 500GB drive kicking around in the Garage.

  If you want absolute cross platform capability's ... as in the ability to clone from one machine ... to a , say a 1TB backup drive .... then use that clone to migrate it to a totally different machine ... you add the "Acronis Plus Pack" to "Acronis True Image Home 2011/2012"

  This gives you the ability to clone to dissimilar hardware ....even allows system drivers like the F6 install procedure still applicable if you have something like a OCZ RevoDrive where the drivers need to be loaded before the clone

  So in effect with the above software, ... drives , Motherboards, whole systems can be changed ...... there is still every possibility the drives/array will just fire up after transferring to another motherboard .... next one down would be it fails to boot untill you perform a MBR (Master Boot Record) repair with the install disc ....or third ....it's unrecoverable ,... this is when you use the Acronis boot disc you made and the drive with your clone.

  Yes I use Acronis with the plus pack, ....... yes it's saved my bacon  before  ,...... Now I trust Acronis and my backup/clone to the extent I use Raid0 exclusively

  I have 4 SSDs under Raid0 for C .... and two more Raid0s for programs and storage

 Feel free with Any other questions or if I have not been clear ... ask again and I'll try and be more specific

  Aussie Allan

 

[Hikari]

Interesting. So you are saying that indeed there's the risk of not being able to move a RAID5 array from 1 mobo to another, if their RAID controllers aren't compatible? Would it be worthy then to buy a RAID controller that's independant of the mobo, so that it can be moved too when a full upgrade happens?

Another question, seeing that you have experience in cloning and backup software. I've been searching for a syncronization app but found none that would fit my needs. I'd like for exemple to backup everything I configured, from a laptop to PC, when the laptop is connected to the network. I don't mind manually firering the backup routine (configure what's to backup and where to and then click a button), but it would be great if the app itself would detect the network and do it automatically, so that I don't have to worry on forgetting.

And also, a backup software that would copy apps configs, being HD files and Win Registry entries. I've tested a lot of them a few years ago and I found a few capable of copying Registry, but they'd not copy both files and registry together and save them on a unique folder/compressed file :/
The best I found was Genie but it doesn't accept both ways together, and Acronis didn't support Registry.

I'd love to have an app doing my backups on scheduled times and not having to worry!

[Aussie Allan]

Interesting. So you are saying that indeed there's the risk of not being able to move a RAID5 array from 1 mobo to another, if their RAID controllers aren't compatible?.......

 On the contrary....if it's the same chipset...shouldn't be a problem, but then there's the PC god.....As I said previously there's alway a chance it might boot up.....remember ICH10 has been around for over ten years now ... it could just be a MBR repair to get it up and running

  Would it be worthy then to buy a RAID controller that's independant of the mobo, so that it can be moved too when a full upgrade happens?

Now you're firing on all cylinders! ... you'll notice in my sig ...my main C drive is PCI-E based and my storage as well via a Raid card ... just makes sense, doesn't it! ... I ended up with a Highpoint RocketRaid 640 PCI-E card ...6Gb/s complaint .... only hassle is this card will add about 25 secs to your boot time ...not a problem for me, but some bitch about it .... 4 x 500GB Samsung F3 SpinPoints (502HJ) gets you about 545Mb/s read and 525 Write with raid0.....total cost stirling ....card was about 110 and the 4 drives 28 each

 

Another question, seeing that you have experience in cloning and backup software. I've been searching for a syncronization app but found none that would fit my needs. I'd like for exemple to backup everything I configured, from a laptop to PC, when the laptop is connected to the network. I don't mind manually firering the backup routine (configure what's to backup and where to and then click a button), but it would be great if the app itself would detect the network and do it automatically, so that I don't have to worry on forgetting.

  Not totally sure of your meaning here but if I read it right, you'd have to set up one of your machines as a ....for better words a server... or master on the given network, ... Because Acronis recognizes logical drives, I don't see why it would do the same over a wi-fi network

  Acronis allows you to configure in multiple ways ... incremental backup/clone , Differential , multiple drives to multiple partitions ....you can mount them, unmount ,search files .... you can even boot of the clone if you wish ..... I'm pretty lazy myself so I set and forget Acronis to do differential .......effectively it does a clone and updates the clone when I use my machine

And also, a backup software that would copy apps configs, being HD files and Win Registry entries. I've tested a lot of them a few years ago and I found a few capable of copying Registry, but they'd not copy both files and registry together and save them on a unique folder/compressed file :/
The best I found was Genie but it doesn't accept both ways together, and Acronis didn't support Registry.

Again if I'm reading what you're asking correctly ....if set to full incremental backup, it should be cloning EVERYTHING including registry changes ... read up in the Acronis Data-base for conformation but I think it fits the bill, it will take some configuring across your entire network but it is doable.

  " copy both files and registry together and save them on a unique folder/compressed file :/" .....not sure but the data-base should answer that question .... why would you want them in a separate file/folder ?

I'd love to have an app doing my backups on scheduled times and not having to worry! ... theres always something to worry about

 AUSSIE ALLAN

[Hikari]

On the contrary....if it's the same chipset...shouldn't be a problem

Sorry to insist, but my whole question is exactally if it's different chip. Say I have a Intel system and change to AMD, with different RAID controllers. Will the RAID array created by Intel chip be recognized yet?



Regarding the backup software question, I didn't explain it clearly. What I wanted is to setup a backup profile for each app I have installed, and it should backup that app's files and Registry entries, to a unique compressed file.

I don't wanna backup a whole HD or merge different apps in the same backup. But it was just a minor question, forget about it

[Aussie Allan]

On the contrary....if it's the same chipset...shouldn't be a problem

Sorry to insist, but my whole question is exactally if it's different chip. Say I have a Intel system and change to AMD, with different RAID controllers. Will the RAID array created by Intel chip be recognized yet?

  There's No way of telling unless you tried it .... I doubt it though .... your throwing up parameters that are so unlikely to happen, why would developers even consider developing a product to support 0.00001% of the population .... to bad you were not clearer to begin with ......would have saved me a lot of typing!



Regarding the backup software question, I didn't explain it clearly. What I wanted is to setup a backup profile for each app I have installed, and it should backup that app's files and Registry entries, to a unique compressed file.

  this is why I asked you why you would want to do this in the first place ? ? ? .... It makes it far easier to answer a question and offer advise if I understand why someone want to do things a certain way , like I want to do this because.....................

  As it stands , there is a lot of cloning software that will fundamentally do what you want .... but your target criteria is less then 1% of the entire clone .....Muhammad must go to the mountain and wood for the trees does come to mind to be honest .... If you cannot compromise with a clone, you're going to be waiting a hell of a long time for software that no one has any interest in developing

I don't wanna backup a whole HD or merge different apps in the same backup. But it was just a minor question, forget about it

  Most/all/ good....... backup/clone apps have a feature that allows you to backup specific folders ... if you want to back up only specific folders.....go for it! ..... but that folder will mean Diddly-squot if you loose your install without a clone.

  Aussie Allan

[Hikari]

hehe sorry if I wasn't clear before, I also wasn't understanding you

But I disagree it's unlikely to happen. Anybody upgrading its CPU will upgrade its mainboard. If he has a RAID array being controlled by an onboard controller, he'll need a new RAID controller on the new mainboard. In any upgrade that happens.

but that folder will mean Diddly-squot if you loose your install without a clone

Now that's something rare to happen

If an app shows clearly where it saves its configs, it's just a matter of saving them and restoring later. There are a lot of softwares that work just by executing them without needing to run a setup installation, so it's a matter of restoring its configs.

My issue is that some apps have part their configs stored in HD files and part in Registry entries, so I'd need to backup both together. I've found dozens of backup softwares that do one or the other, and a few that do both. But these few won't let me do both kinds together, I'd need to choose each of them, very sad

Apps developed by me don't need installation at all, if needed it's just the database and configure to connect to it. They are all portable and config files are clearly organized, Sad that's rare to be used by most developers ^^