tigerwoodKhorns Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I need some advice for a few computers that I have. First is a work computer. It is a Dell Optiplex GX280. It has a 40 Gig HD. I really don't need that much HD space beyond the 40 gigs but I do need a backup. After exploring options I think that I am going to use a RAID 1 configuration (Mirror drives) and 2 Seagate Barracuda ES 320 gig drives. These are more expensive drives but supposed to be very reliable. The DELL has a Foxconn LS 36 motherboard that is supposed to support RAID 1. I can't find nay info on how to set up a RAID on teh motherboard and I'm not sure that I trust it. I think that I need a PCI Raid card. I am considering the 3ware 8006. It only supports SATA 150 mb/s and not 300 mb/s and is more expensive than other cards out there, but it gets great reviews on the Newegg site. The 3ware card is supposed to be a "true hardware" RAID card. I'm not sure if that matters with Windows XP Pro (It seems to matter with Lennux). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816116030 This Highpoint Card supports 300 MB/s and is about tjhe same price, but has some negative's. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115030 Does anyone have any experience with this? I just want a relaible backup for my files and RAID 1 seems to be the best as it is constant. I also do nto want a bunch of problems settign it up as I am not a computer tech guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 While cheaper in the short run to set up on a given computer, the better long term solution is a RAID1/5 (as you prefer...I use RAID5) standalone NAS. I use a Buffalo TeraStation and it's been on line 3 years. One drive failure, no losses and it is available to any machine on my network. I think they are sub-600.00 these days ready to go. There are a lot of these available either as ready to go or as boxes for you to add drives to. Personally, I want my data has far from Bill Gates POS (Pitiful Operating System) as I can get it... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest srobak Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 If you are running xp pro, you don't even need the card. It will do software raid 1. Make sure each drive is on it's own ide channel and then use the disk manager to set it up. Yes, it is just a tad more pokey than doing it as hardware raid - but hey - raid1 is poor mans backup to begin with If you really want good backup, do raid5 like suggested. It can be done on the cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 If you are running xp pro, you don't even need the card. It will do software raid 1. Make sure each drive is on it's own ide channel and then use the disk manager to set it up. Yes, it is just a tad more pokey than doing it as hardware raid - but hey - raid1 is poor mans backup to begin with If you really want good backup, do raid5 like suggested. It can be done on the cheap. Microsoft's support page says that http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307880 You cannot create mirrored volumes on computers that are running Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition. However, you can use a computer that is running Windows XP Professional to create mirrored volumes on remote computers that are running Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, or Windows 2000 Datacenter Server. You must have administrative privileges on the remote computer to do this. The motherboard in the Dell is allows RAID 1 (I saw this on the internet as a feature of the board) but I have no idea how to do it. I just want an inexpensive/relaible way to back up my data for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 You never want to do software raid. To use your motherboards built-in raid, you connect one drive to each SATA port. Boot the machine, press the appropriate key when prompted during the sequence, specify to create a raid. The hardware does all the work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwh Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Remember also that RAID 1/5 isn't a substitute for true backups. RAID will protect against physical disk failures, but not against software / user error or lightning. It's useful technology, but offline backup is also necessary (such as a USB hard drive, stored offsite if possible). Also, regarding hardware vs. software RAID -- software has a distinct advantage. With H/W RAID controllers, their on-disk format is usually specific to the controller (3ware, Highpoint, etc.), so if the controller fails, you'll need to replace it with a compatible controller before you can read your disks again. With software RAID, you should be able to read the disks on any machine that supports the software and the disks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I've been the internal RAID route using various type cards and drive arrays....... I like the NAS approach better....it's shareable across different machines as well as media servers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 You never want to do software raid. To use your motherboards built-in raid, you connect one drive to each SATA port. Boot the machine, press the appropriate key when prompted during the sequence, specify to create a raid. The hardware does all the work. Can I trust the motherboard's RAID? It looks like I will need to replace the existing disc in the machine to do that (although I probably have to to create a RAID 1 to backup my software). I am leaning toward the 3ware 8006-2lp hardware raid card. It is limited to 1.5 instread of three but everyone that uses it swears by it. I can have that RAID card plus two Seagate Barracuda ES drives for about $325. I'm trying to conserve money at this point. As an additional backup, two DVD's should cover all of my really important files at any time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchist Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Software raid has a severe disadvantage in terms of disk access speed and additional bottlenecks it imparts on the system. Most motherboards are providing hardware raid 0/1. They are using the same raid controllers one would find on a card so it makes no sense to not use them if you are using either of these raid implementations. Pop the two Seagate drives in, reboot, and configure raid. Simple. If you were using raid 5, a card is a necessity and it makes sense to spend a good deal of money on one. Your situation is not a mission critical situation however. Raid 1 is mirroring, pure and simple. The second drive is your backup and is an exact duplicate of the first drive. If either goes out, you are still up and running. DVD backup at this point is additional protection which is highly unlikely ever to be used. If something occured which caused both drives to fail simultaneously, your PC would most likely be toast anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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