Windows on RAID?

[Guest]

Hello all, I've got some questions about installing Windows on a RAID 0
array. I want to install Windows XP on an array with two WD 36.7Gb Raptors.
As I am unfamiliar with RAID, any help will be greatly appriciated...

During Setup, I will need to force a HAL setting (I have been forced to do
this before, my mobo is wierd), after I get done messing with the HAL will
Setup restart so that I can load my RAID drivers? (I will need to take care
of both the HAL & RAID)

Assuming I have my RAID 0 array properly set up, when I choose one of the
Raptors for the installation, will Windows be written to both drives, or just
one. (that's probably one of the dumbest questions I've ever asked) If both,
is there anything I need to be worrying about with Windows system components
being split up like that?

Also, how would I commence to defragging and checking the disc/s and all
that other disc-maintenence stuff? Will that work at all? Same with paging
files?

Thanks a million to anyone who sheds some light on this!

 

[StringFellow Hawk]

XP doesn't support RAID natively. The raid mirror and/or stripping must be
done externally, before XP installation (normally done with a hardware
card), then during installation, where you normally are hitting <F7> to
manually pick your HAL, you hit <F6> to install the hardware raid drivers.
Once XP has the drivers, it will recognize the raid setup, whether stripped
(one drive) or mirrored (2 drives) and will install the OS. How you do
both, <F7> and <F6>, I wouldn't know, never been in that situation.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply Hawk, so far you're the only one. As for F7 & F6, I
guess I'll see about that when I get to it. (I bet that I'll have to go
through the whole installation process twice, knowing my luck) :]

 

[Frank]

I don't know what the HAL setting is about. Are your BIOS settings
correct for what you want to do?
During boot up you will have to press a key combination to initialize the
array. (Mine is ctrl F). Reboot and press F6 to add the RAID drivers.
With a RAID 0 you will wind up with about a 70Gb partition. Windows
will then format it. Just follow the instructions from then on.
I would advise getting a USB or Firewire external hard drive for backup
purposes. I would also advise using a quality UPS.
Good Luck

| Hello all, I've got some questions about installing Windows on a RAID 0
| array. I want to install Windows XP on an array with two WD 36.7Gb
Raptors.
| As I am unfamiliar with RAID, any help will be greatly appriciated...
|
| During Setup, I will need to force a HAL setting (I have been forced to do
| this before, my mobo is wierd), after I get done messing with the HAL will
| Setup restart so that I can load my RAID drivers? (I will need to take
care
| of both the HAL & RAID)
|
| Assuming I have my RAID 0 array properly set up, when I choose one of the
| Raptors for the installation, will Windows be written to both drives, or
just
| one. (that's probably one of the dumbest questions I've ever asked) If
both,
| is there anything I need to be worrying about with Windows system
components
| being split up like that?
|
| Also, how would I commence to defragging and checking the disc/s and all
| that other disc-maintenence stuff? Will that work at all? Same with
paging
| files?
|
| Thanks a million to anyone who sheds some light on this!

 

[Rick]

I don't know what the HAL setting is about. Are your BIOS settings
correct for what you want to do?
During boot up you will have to press a key combination to initialize the
array. (Mine is ctrl F). Reboot and press F6 to add the RAID drivers.
With a RAID 0 you will wind up with about a 70Gb partition. Windows
will then format it. Just follow the instructions from then on.
I would advise getting a USB or Firewire external hard drive for backup
purposes. I would also advise using a quality UPS.
Good Luck

| Hello all, I've got some questions about installing Windows on a RAID 0
| array. I want to install Windows XP on an array with two WD 36.7Gb
Raptors.
| As I am unfamiliar with RAID, any help will be greatly appriciated...
|
| During Setup, I will need to force a HAL setting (I have been forced to do
| this before, my mobo is wierd), after I get done messing with the HAL will
| Setup restart so that I can load my RAID drivers? (I will need to take
care
| of both the HAL & RAID)
|
| Assuming I have my RAID 0 array properly set up, when I choose one of the
| Raptors for the installation, will Windows be written to both drives, or
just
| one. (that's probably one of the dumbest questions I've ever asked) If
both,
| is there anything I need to be worrying about with Windows system
components
| being split up like that?
|
| Also, how would I commence to defragging and checking the disc/s and all
| that other disc-maintenence stuff? Will that work at all? Same with
paging
| files?
|
| Thanks a million to anyone who sheds some light on this!

I Think that a Seagate barricuda 200Gb drive (internal would be a better
choice and probably less expensive.

 

[Frank]

| Frank wrote:
| > I don't know what the HAL setting is about. Are your BIOS settings
| > correct for what you want to do?
| > During boot up you will have to press a key combination to
initialize the
| > array. (Mine is ctrl F). Reboot and press F6 to add the RAID
drivers.
| > With a RAID 0 you will wind up with about a 70Gb partition. Windows
| > will then format it. Just follow the instructions from then on.
| > I would advise getting a USB or Firewire external hard drive for
backup
| > purposes. I would also advise using a quality UPS.
| > Good Luck
| >
message
| > | > | Hello all, I've got some questions about installing Windows on a
RAID 0
| > | array. I want to install Windows XP on an array with two WD 36.7Gb
| > Raptors.
| > | As I am unfamiliar with RAID, any help will be greatly
appriciated...
| > |
| > | During Setup, I will need to force a HAL setting (I have been
forced to do
| > | this before, my mobo is wierd), after I get done messing with the
HAL will
| > | Setup restart so that I can load my RAID drivers? (I will need to
take
| > care
| > | of both the HAL & RAID)
| >
| I Think that a Seagate barricuda 200Gb drive (internal would be a
better
| choice and probably less expensive.

Nonsense......

The performance increase with a RAID 0 (striped) is perceivable to the
naked eye in real time.....

 

[Guest]

Sorry Rick, but Frank is right. Besides, it's not space I'm after, it's the
performance. (it's just so annoying when Far Cry takes a full 45 seconds to
load) :]
Thank you both for your help.

 

[zibby]

Sorry Rick, but Frank is right. Besides, it's not space I'm after, it's the
performance. (it's just so annoying when Far Cry takes a full 45 seconds to
load) :]
Thank you both for your help.

And you will be disappointed when your game will still take 45 seconds to
load.
tomshardware.com did tests and prove that RAID won't increase speed or load
time for any games.
Problem is that all games when you load them CPU has to decompress all
textures, maps, and all other crap.
And speed that you gain when opening files won't matter as you have to wait
for CPU.
And it's proved by them with test they had done.
RAID is good for video editing and servers because of read/write speed
(stripped) or protection (mirrored)
Common market trick makes you believe RAID is better for games, so they can
sell you more expensive system.

Anyway, setup your system and let me know if you saved few seconds loading
game, and was it worth to go RAID with 2 hard drives (talking about cost)

Zibby

 

[Frank]

That test was done using software RAID. ie., the same as
using a winmodem. When I can see the difference with my
own eyes, this is not marketing hype. XPpro RAID 0
XPhome no RAID.

|
| | > Sorry Rick, but Frank is right. Besides, it's not space I'm after, it's
| the
| > performance. (it's just so annoying when Far Cry takes a full 45
seconds
| to
| > load) :]
| > Thank you both for your help.
|
| And you will be disappointed when your game will still take 45 seconds to
| load.
| tomshardware.com did tests and prove that RAID won't increase speed or
load
| time for any games.
| Problem is that all games when you load them CPU has to decompress all
| textures, maps, and all other crap.
| And speed that you gain when opening files won't matter as you have to
wait
| for CPU.
| And it's proved by them with test they had done.
| RAID is good for video editing and servers because of read/write speed
| (stripped) or protection (mirrored)
| Common market trick makes you believe RAID is better for games, so they
can
| sell you more expensive system.
|
| Anyway, setup your system and let me know if you saved few seconds
loading
| game, and was it worth to go RAID with 2 hard drives (talking about cost)
|
| Zibby
|
|

 

[zibby]

It wasn't software raid (I hope you mean WinXP active partition as software
raid)
If I find this article I'll post link

 

[zibby]

as promssed
http://www.overclockers.com/articles1063/

It wasn't software raid (I hope you mean WinXP active partition as software
raid)
If I find this article I'll post link

That test was done using software RAID. ie., the same as
using a winmodem. When I can see the difference with my
own eyes, this is not marketing hype. XPpro RAID 0
XPhome no RAID.

|
| | > Sorry Rick, but Frank is right. Besides, it's not space I'm after, it's
| the
| > performance. (it's just so annoying when Far Cry takes a full 45
seconds
| to
| > load) :]
| > Thank you both for your help.
|
| And you will be disappointed when your game will still take 45 seconds to
| load.
| tomshardware.com did tests and prove that RAID won't increase speed or
load
| time for any games.
| Problem is that all games when you load them CPU has to decompress all
| textures, maps, and all other crap.
| And speed that you gain when opening files won't matter as you have to
wait
| for CPU.
| And it's proved by them with test they had done.
| RAID is good for video editing and servers because of read/write speed
| (stripped) or protection (mirrored)
| Common market trick makes you believe RAID is better for games, so they
can
| sell you more expensive system.
|
| Anyway, setup your system and let me know if you saved few seconds
loading
| game, and was it worth to go RAID with 2 hard drives (talking about cost)
|
| Zibby
|
|

 

[Guest]

Don't worry Zib, after I get my RAID going I'm going to throw my home-built
water cooling system in there and do some serious overclocking. You think I'd
fry my 2.8GHz Pentium4 by pushing it to 3.4Ghz? (hehehehe) :}

 

[Frank]

I guess I cheated a little. I have 3 WD40g 7200rpm 8m cache
on a Fastrak TX 4000. I use a WD 120g USB for backup.
I am just very pleased with my overall performance increase.
To each his own. Thanks for the link, it is useful to me.

| as promssed
| http://www.overclockers.com/articles1063/
|
|
|
| | > It wasn't software raid (I hope you mean WinXP active partition as
| software
| > raid)
| > If I find this article I'll post link
| >
| > | > > That test was done using software RAID. ie., the same as
| > > using a winmodem. When I can see the difference with my
| > > own eyes, this is not marketing hype. XPpro RAID 0
| > > XPhome no RAID.
| > >
| > > | > > |
message
| > > | | > > | > Sorry Rick, but Frank is right. Besides, it's not space I'm
after,
| > it's
| > > | the
| > > | > performance. (it's just so annoying when Far Cry takes a full 45
| > > seconds
| > > | to
| > > | > load) :]
| > > | > Thank you both for your help.
| > > |
| > > | And you will be disappointed when your game will still take 45
seconds
| > to
| > > | load.
| > > | tomshardware.com did tests and prove that RAID won't increase speed
or
| > > load
| > > | time for any games.
| > > | Problem is that all games when you load them CPU has to decompress
all
| > > | textures, maps, and all other crap.
| > > | And speed that you gain when opening files won't matter as you have
to
| > > wait
| > > | for CPU.
| > > | And it's proved by them with test they had done.
| > > | RAID is good for video editing and servers because of read/write
speed
| > > | (stripped) or protection (mirrored)
| > > | Common market trick makes you believe RAID is better for games, so
| they
| > > can
| > > | sell you more expensive system.
| > > |
| > > | Anyway, setup your system and let me know if you saved few seconds
| > > loading
| > > | game, and was it worth to go RAID with 2 hard drives (talking about
| > cost)
| > > |
| > > | Zibby
| > > |
| > > |
| > >
| > >
| >
| >
|
|

 

[zibby]

make sure to do pressure test first (with air compressor pump it to 30psi)
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you don't want to get "water wetter" all over mobo.
if you don't know what "water wetter" is, well hint here. It's used on
tracks as coolant replacement (required)