2 hard drive to RAID

[frank]

Hi, is it possible to take 2 hard drive of same capacity of different brands
and use them in a Raid configuration? if so, can I convert the 2 drives and
keep all the info on them or will I have to start from scratch and format
both drives.
thanks all

 

[DaveW]

You must start from scratch and format both drives. And the two drives have
to be of the same GB capacity.

 

[Alceryes]

Possible, yes. The RAID will be twice the size of the smaller drive (note
that a 40GB Segate and 40GB Maxtor are NOT exactly equal in size). Also note
that to get the maximum performance out of a RAID 0 (striped) array it is
highly recommended you get identical drives.
--


"I don't cheat to survive. I cheat to LIVE!!"

- Alceryes

 

[frank]

k, thanks Dave

You must start from scratch and format both drives. And the two drives
have to be of the same GB capacity.

 

[Joe]

Both of the first two answer are wrong to a degree.

Hi, is it possible to take 2 hard drive of same capacity of different
brands and use them in a Raid configuration?
Yes

if so, can I convert the 2 drives and
keep all the info on them

No


or will I have to start from scratch and format

both drives.

Yes

And the do not have to be the same size but you would loose any overage
over the small one.

example
40 gig plus 60 gig in Raid 0 would equal one usable 80 gig drive the extra
20 gigs are lost

example
40 gig plus 60 gig in Raid 1 would equal one usable 40 gig drive the extra
20 gigs are lost

Joe

 

[kony]

Both of the first two answer are wrong to a degree.


No


or will I have to start from scratch and format

Yes

And the do not have to be the same size but you would loose any overage
over the small one.

example
40 gig plus 60 gig in Raid 0 would equal one usable 80 gig drive the extra
20 gigs are lost

example
40 gig plus 60 gig in Raid 1 would equal one usable 40 gig drive the extra
20 gigs are lost

Joe

Joe is right.

Further, regarding use of different drives.
Suppose you had two median-speed 80GB identical drives.
Suppose you replaced one of those drives with a different
(but faster make/model of) 80Gb drive. Having different
drives will not interfere with performance, in this case the
performance will be higher than previously. It wouldn't
make so much difference on RAID1 though.

 

[dylan]

Hi, is it possible to take 2 hard drive of same capacity of different
brands and use them in a Raid configuration?
yes

if so, can I convert the 2 drives and keep all the info on them or will I
have to start from scratch and format both drives.

yes for type 0 (performance) and no for type 1 (redundancy), as I understand
it one will keep its data and be copied to the other.