RAID hard drives in new PC without raid: access data?

[Thumper]

I have two SATA Maxtor hard drives in a raid in my now defunct
computer. Is there any way to get access to the data on those hard
drives without getting a mobo with RAID on my new computer?

If so, does it have to be the same "version" of raid? What I mean is
that I remember that FastTrack used to have a 33 and 100 version and I
don't think RAIDed hard drives on either were compatible with each
other. Know what I mean?

Anyway, do I need to buy a mobo with RAID again?

 

[DL]

Depends what type of raid was configured origonally.

If it was mirror raid, instal a single drive as slave in a new system & copy
data across
However if it was a striped raid array, all is probably lost

 

[Thumper]

What do you mean "lost". Assuming the hard drive didn't fail, then why
can't I just install these drives in a new system that has SATA RAID?

 

[frodo]

What do you mean "lost". Assuming the hard drive didn't fail, then why
can't I just install these drives in a new system that has SATA RAID?

because different raid drivers/chipsets organize the drive contents
differently. if the user data was split across multiple drives (raid 0 for
example), then you need a driver that gets the parts and puts them back
together again JUST RIGHT. Your best bet would be to backup the data from
the old machine and restore it to the new, assuming the old is still
functional or can be made functional. Otherwise the data is lost unless
you had a backup of it somewhere else. But the drives themselves can of
course be reformatted and used again. And don't use raid 0 on the new
system without working out a good backup plan for the next time...

BTW, if the new system does use the SAME chipset (family) and drivers you
_MAY_ be able to resurect the data - you would need to configure the new
system for the exact same settings as the old in the raid bios (ie, raid
stripe size) and hook the drives up - you may find that the data is there.
This might work if, for example, both MoBo's use the Intel ICHxR chip and
the same version of the IAA or IMM driver. I may be worth a try as a last
resort. Just don't bet the farm on it.

 

[dobey]

What do you mean "lost". Assuming the hard drive didn't fail, then why
can't I just install these drives in a new system that has SATA RAID?

You will just have to suck it and see. You could clone the disks, just in
case, then hook them up to another RAID controller. Then you can restore the
disks if you need to for another attempt and resurrecting the array.

As the other poster said, if you can find the same chipset and hook them up
using the same drivers it might be OK.

I have actually done this when my mobo of less than a year went tits up. I
was able to buy a later revision of the same board that used the same
chipset for RAID and was able to boot straight back into windows.

You would be better off asking in either a group that deals with your
specific motherboard/chipset arrangement and ask anyone there if they have
had success reviving a striped set on another board, or some other group
dealing with storage.

I'm not sure what your chances are, but if you hook up the drives, make sure
you set the BIOS options properly. If you can't get the RAID BIOS to
recognise and array, then it probably won't work.

If it does recognise the array, you will need to do a repair install using
the new RAID driver at setup, unless the drivers that existed on the system
are compatible with the new chipset you are using.