RAID 1 (mirrored): is it possible ?

[penciline]

Hi users:

I read somewhere that Windows does not support anything besides RAID 0
(striped array). Is this true or false?

I would like to create a RAID 1 (mirrored) or possibly a combination of RAID
1 & RAID 0 (RAID 0+1 or RAID 1+0--not sure what the difference is yet).
Would I need a PCI controller card to achieve this and is this only possible
with SATA or SCSI drives or could I use IDE/ATA (PATA)?

Please advise,
Sincerely,
penciline

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Hi users:

I read somewhere that Windows does not support anything besides
RAID 0 (striped array). Is this true or false?

I would like to create a RAID 1 (mirrored) or possibly a
combination of RAID 1 & RAID 0 (RAID 0+1 or RAID 1+0--not sure what
the difference is yet). Would I need a PCI controller card to
achieve this and is this only possible with SATA or SCSI drives or
could I use IDE/ATA (PATA)?

Please advise

Stay away from any software-based RAID configuration and purchase an
inexpensive hardware controller that will do the RAID for you. Then you can
do pretty much whatever the card will allow (which should be just about
anything.)

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi users:

I read somewhere that Windows does not support anything besides RAID 0
(striped array). Is this true or false?

I would like to create a RAID 1 (mirrored) or possibly a combination of RAID
1 & RAID 0 (RAID 0+1 or RAID 1+0--not sure what the difference is yet).
Would I need a PCI controller card to achieve this and is this only possible
with SATA or SCSI drives or could I use IDE/ATA (PATA)?

If you want to use RAID, avoid software-based RAID, and get a
hardware-based solution.

But if you are considering RAID1 as an alternative to backup, let me
recommend that you do *not* do this.

RAID 1 (mirroring) is *not* a backup solution. RAID 1 uses two or more
drives, each a duplicate of the others, to provide redundancy, not
backup. It's used in situations (almost always within corporations,
not in homes) where any downtown can't be tolerated, because the way
it works is that if one drive fails the other takes over seamlessly.

Although some people thing of RAID 1 as a backup technique, that is
*not* what it is, since it's subject to simultaneous loss of the
original and the mirror to many of the most common dangers threatening
your data--severe power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, virus
attacks, theft of the computer, etc. Most companies that use RAID 1
also have a strong external backup plan in place.

Read my thoughts on backup here:
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314