RAID 1 & new mobo

  • Thread starter Thread starter Aitch
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A

Aitch

I am replacing my motherboard an ECS model AMD690GM-M2 with an ECS
GeForce6100PM-M2. I am using a RAID 1 setup as my bootdisk. I haven't
receieved any response from ECS yet with my questions so I hope to gain some
insight here.

Can I just install the new mobo and enable RAID 1 in the BIOS plug in the
array to the corresponding SATA ports and be on my way?

Or will BIOS want to perform some formatting and therefore delete my data
and XP?

Is it possible to install the old array on the new mobo?

Since I installed the RAID array in the first place to have data
redundancy/mirroring could I just take 1 of the drives from the array and
plug it into the SATA port and boot XP off of that?

I greatly appreciate everyone's responses and insights. Thank you.
 
Aitch said:
I am replacing my motherboard an ECS model AMD690GM-M2 with an ECS
GeForce6100PM-M2. I am using a RAID 1 setup as my bootdisk. I
haven't receieved any response from ECS yet with my questions so I
hope to gain some insight here.

Can I just install the new mobo and enable RAID 1 in the BIOS plug
in the array to the corresponding SATA ports and be on my way?

Or will BIOS want to perform some formatting and therefore delete
my data and XP?

Is it possible to install the old array on the new mobo?

Since I installed the RAID array in the first place to have data
redundancy/mirroring could I just take 1 of the drives from the
array and plug it into the SATA port and boot XP off of that?

I greatly appreciate everyone's responses and insights. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Hardware RAID 1 on your old system with a different controller?

Chance are that RAID will be broken and unfixable - not that it matters much
with a RAID 1 anyway.

In any case - if there is much difference at all in the old/new systems - it
isn't going to boot without at least a repair installation - if not a clean
installation.

Personally - I cannot see the use for a home user of RAID 1. Usually when
things go wrong, they do so over time - which would corrupt the data on BOTH
drives. You'd pretty much have to have an instantaneous failure of one
drive in order for a RAID 1 to be of any real usefulness. Better
performance with a RAID 0 and a decent backup or three+ drives and a
RAID5... Maybe.
 
Shenan Stanley said:
Hardware RAID 1 on your old system with a different controller?

Chance are that RAID will be broken and unfixable - not that it matters much
with a RAID 1 anyway.

In any case - if there is much difference at all in the old/new systems - it
isn't going to boot without at least a repair installation - if not a clean
installation.

Personally - I cannot see the use for a home user of RAID 1. Usually when
things go wrong, they do so over time - which would corrupt the data on BOTH
drives. You'd pretty much have to have an instantaneous failure of one
drive in order for a RAID 1 to be of any real usefulness. Better
performance with a RAID 0 and a decent backup or three+ drives and a
RAID5... Maybe.
Click to expand...
OK, so RAID 1 doesn't sound like a practical use for the home user. What
about my specific issues/questions and the problem at hand? RAID 1 has
already been implemented. What are the options going forward with a new
mobo? Can the whole array be transferred to the new board and different
chipsets. Will the different firmware reformat the hardisks? If not once it
accesses the XP operating system then it will obviously require at least a
repair and perhaps a clean installation of XP. What about removing the old
mobo, installing the new mobo, and then only plugging one disk from the array
and not implementing RAID in the mobo firmware? Is that a possible option to
get up and running again?
 
Aitch said:
OK, so RAID 1 doesn't sound like a practical use for the home user.
What about my specific issues/questions and the problem at hand?
RAID 1 has already been implemented. What are the options going
forward with a new mobo? Can the whole array be transferred to the
new board and different chipsets. Will the different firmware
reformat the hardisks? If not once it accesses the XP operating
system then it will obviously require at least a repair and perhaps
a clean installation of XP. What about removing the old mobo,
installing the new mobo, and then only plugging one disk from the
array and not implementing RAID in the mobo firmware? Is that a
possible option to get up and running again?
Click to expand...

"Chances are that RAID will be broken and unfixable"

and

"In any case - if there is much difference at all in the old/new systems -
it
isn't going to boot without at least a repair installation - if not a clean
installation."

Those two statements give you the full gist of the situation. The RAID will
most likely be broken completely. You might be able to rebuild it - if you
desire to do so - but I would doubt it.

Being that you had RAID before and will have a RAID chipset on the new
computer - and it is unlikely these are the same (are they - if so, that is
a useful bit of information) - the Windows XP installation will not
(probably) boot. People have gotten lucky in the past - but...

You can break the RAID in the old computer and use one of the drives to test
the functionality in the new system. You'll probably have to do a repair
installation (if it works at all) to get it up and going.
 
1st you'd need to enable RAID in the new MB,set to run with IDE devices
if used,then set boot priority (cdrom with xp cd installed,RAID 2nd for xp
reinstall),after BIOS,press key to chk youre RAID set,it'll probably be
fine.You
may want to create a new one as xp will need to be reinstalled.The current
RAID set will have the wrong drivers/software installed as the new MB has
diffrent hardware.Internet hardware also is diffrent,so a "repair install"
wont
work.As for RAID 1 on a desktop,it increases performance about 30- 35%,RAID
0 about 50% over a single hd,3 hd in a RAID 0 gets you about 75%
increase.Read
for yourself at:
http://www.intel.com/performance/desktop/platform_technologies/storage_performance.htm
 
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