RAID1 question

[Dan Conrad]

XP-Pro OS -- am upgrading my Motherboard to one that has hardware RAID
Asus P5LD2 -- so was thinking about setting up a RAID1 mirror disk
situation -- to be protected in case of disk crash. From posts on this
board gather XP will see as one disk and can partition as I want.
Question is -- do I still need to have a regular backup system -- with a
third disk -- and what are the advantages/disadvantages of doing what I
am planning. Note system is used in a lab/office environment. Thanks.

 

[caver1]

XP-Pro OS -- am upgrading my Motherboard to one that has hardware RAID
Asus P5LD2 -- so was thinking about setting up a RAID1 mirror disk
situation -- to be protected in case of disk crash. From posts on this
board gather XP will see as one disk and can partition as I want.
Question is -- do I still need to have a regular backup system -- with a
third disk -- and what are the advantages/disadvantages of doing what I
am planning. Note system is used in a lab/office environment. Thanks.

Yes you still need a regular backup. Raid 1 is
only good for harddrive failures. If the data on
your disk gets corrupted both will be corrupted.
caver1

 

[HeyBub]

XP-Pro OS -- am upgrading my Motherboard to one that has hardware RAID
Asus P5LD2 -- so was thinking about setting up a RAID1 mirror disk
situation -- to be protected in case of disk crash. From posts on
this board gather XP will see as one disk and can partition as I want.
Question is -- do I still need to have a regular backup system --
with a third disk -- and what are the advantages/disadvantages of
doing what I am planning. Note system is used in a lab/office
environment. Thanks.

A RAID will not protect you against theft, fire, grievous error, malice, or
catastrophic malware infection.

One of my customers had his computer stolen three times in ten days. Without
an off-site backup, he would be toast.

Another user was in Hollister, California, the epicenter of the '86 quake.
The building collapsed. Then caught fire. Next about a million cans of
tomato paste burst in a warehouse across the street and this giant red ooze
put out the fire.

Stuff happens.

 

[Newbie Coder]

Dan,

It's always best to make a backup.

I install raid 1 - 5 daily & all have tape drive backups with Backup Exec 10d/11d

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

XP-Pro OS -- am upgrading my Motherboard to one that has hardware RAID
Asus P5LD2 -- so was thinking about setting up a RAID1 mirror disk
situation -- to be protected in case of disk crash. From posts on this
board gather XP will see as one disk and can partition as I want.
Question is -- do I still need to have a regular backup system -- with a
third disk -- and what are the advantages/disadvantages of doing what I
am planning. Note system is used in a lab/office environment. Thanks.

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.

You can read my general advice on backup here:

http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314

 

[NoConsequence]

XP-Pro OS -- am upgrading my Motherboard to one that has hardware RAID
Asus P5LD2 -- so was thinking about setting up a RAID1 mirror disk
situation -- to be protected in case of disk crash. From posts on this
board gather XP will see as one disk and can partition as I want.
Question is -- do I still need to have a regular backup system -- with a
third disk -- and what are the advantages/disadvantages of doing what I
am planning. Note system is used in a lab/office environment. Thanks.

Why ask here? What does this have to do with XP? NOTHING.

Hardware RAID is just that = HARDWARE. Backup schemes have nothing to
do with the OS either.

Ask elsewhere.