A7N8X-E can I convert my hard drives to SATA?

[Peter]

Hi,

Have just rebuilt my PC with a new A7N8X-E and like the idea of using
SATA to shadow my main hard drive as I have a lot of business info on it
which I want to protect.

I thought that the board would come with everything I need, but
apparently not? If I am understanding it properly, the supplied leads
are for SATA drives and both of my IBM Hitachi drives have the standard
connections.

1 - What else do I need to buy to convert to SATA?

2 - Will it be possible to change to SATA without losing any of the
current info on my hard drive or can you only do it with a clean
installation of XP?

Is there an idiots guide to SATA setting up which an idiot like me can
understand?

Home somebody can point me in the right direction,

Regards,

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

You cannot "convert" your drives to SATA. You must use SATA drives. The
drives you currently have are IDE drives, and cannot be used as SATA. There
is no adapter, software or hardware that will allow you to do so.

Bobby

 

[John Saunders]

Err, actually you can buy IDE to SATA adapters to convert harddisks
or CD/DVD drives to SATA. Look for the ABit SERILLEL2 adapter.

Whether you can convert 2 drives into a RAID1 mirror without having
to re-partition and re-install the OS, I don't know.

 

[MrGrumpy]

The adapter merely allows you to connect an ide cable to a sata mobo
conection, whether you will get true sata performance is another matter.
If you have a drive with o/s, data etc and or partitioned, installed, this
can be mirrored by connecting a drive of the same size, or larger. (ie a
120gb + 200gb will result in 120gb mirror) Both drives have to connected to
appropriate raid/sata mobo connections, in the correct order, to build the
mirror.

 

[dino]

as soon as you create a mirror I believe it deletes the drives with the
RAID Utility. The best bet is to do it from a clean install and bring it up
that way. However, if you just put in a new motherboard you should re-format
or at the least do a repair installation of XP. You could then use the SATA
to carry more HD's on the system as storage drives. I have done it both
ways,at first my SATA was for storage, then when I picked up my second
drive. I am running it as a Mirror with 2 HD's as backup and storage.

 

[MrGrumpy]

The Si raid utility certainly never deleted any drives when I last used it
( several versions used) to build a mirror using an existing hd

 

[Jbob]

You cannot "convert" your drives to SATA. You must use SATA drives. The
drives you currently have are IDE drives, and cannot be used as SATA.
There is no adapter, software or hardware that will allow you to do so.

Bobby

Ok not to get technical here but:

SATA or S-ATA drives are IDE drives a well. IDE is just an abbreviation for
Intelligent Drive Electonics or Integrated Drive Electronics. ATA is an
abbreviation for Advanced Technology Attachment. The terms ATA and IDE are
used interchangeably. Up until SATA entered the scene all IDE/ATA drives
were actually P-ATA(or PATA) drives, Parallel ATA drives that used either
40 or 80 pin cables. SATA uses a single cable of only 4 wires. Transfer
rates for SATA begin at 150 MBps. One of the main design advantages is
thinner cables facilitate more efficient airflow inside and allow for
smaller chassis designs. Also SATA cables can be up to 1 meter in length.

 

[User]

I use 2 HighPoint RocketHead100 IDE Hard Drive to Serial ATA Converters
on a Maxtor 200 gig raid 1 array with no problem. The adapters are plug n play
and will work with existing data.

Here's one place that stocks these. I got them somewhere else cheaper a year
ago.

http://www.xpcgear.com/controllercard.html