Windows Software Raid

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Guest

Since the raid array was built using windows, in the event that you have to
reinstall the os, do you have to re-build the array, or will the raided
partitions remain intact?
 
Windows doesnt build the RAID array,the array must be configured after
the BIOS,but always shows before xp starts to boot.Hence,if the array is a
true RAID configuration,it remains intact even when no OS is installed,to
break the configuration,it gets done in the RAID utility.If youre
configuration
doesnt post before xp,then youre not running RAID...
 
Thank you for the response, but i am using Windows built in software array,
not an hardware array controller.
 
Schlafly said:
Does anybody have any ideals?
Click to expand...

there is no such thing, per say. "windows" does not have software raid,
but your motherboard chipset, along w/ a windows driver, may provide it.
windows DOES have something called Dynamic Disks, but that's a different
beast, very rarely used.

so, your original question was if you have to reinstall windows do you
have to rebuild the array? the answer is basically no, the array will be
there already when you boot to the xp cd to do the reinstall, and you can
wipe all partitions and re-partition and reformat at will; or do a repair
install (ie, inplace upgrade) if you so choose.

how do you get rid of the array? using the raid BIOS (an extension to the
regular bios) you can disable the array or reconfigure it. At boot time
you should see a (quick) prompt telling what key(s) to press to get into
the raid bios; for Intel Chipset bios it's cntl-I, for nvidia it's F8.

read your motherboard docs, it should be explained in there somewhere.

note many MoBo today have multiple raid possibilities, typically provided
by the main chipset (intel ICH, nvidia, VIA, etc) plus another provided by
an auxillary chip (like a Promise chip). They are different and require
different drivers and setup procedures. Intel's ICH often requires that
the MAIN BIOS first configure the chipset to permit raid, then the Intel
BIOS is used to configure the array.

while these types of array DO use a hw chipset for support, they are often
called "Software RAID". That's a slight misnomer, some work is indeed
done in software, but the chip also provides a lot of speed-up support -
it's more of a hybrid solution.
 
I am sorry, I am not explaining myself correctly. Yes you are a 100 percent
correct in what you say, but I am referring to, in Windows Disk management
you are able to create a new volume. One option is RAID 5. If went with this
solution and I need to re-install my OS, will I loose my RAID. I assure you
I do not have a hardware RAID controller on my cpu, I wish. Again I am sorry
for the misunderstanding, and Thank you for your reply.
 
Schlafly said:
I am sorry, I am not explaining myself correctly. Yes you are a 100
percent correct in what you say, but I am referring to, in Windows
Disk management you are able to create a new volume. One option is
RAID 5. If went with this solution and I need to re-install my OS,
will I loose my RAID. I assure you I do not have a hardware RAID
controller on my cpu, I wish. Again I am sorry for the
misunderstanding, and Thank you for your reply.
Click to expand...

Well, I was ready to call "nutso," then I found this:

http://www.techimo.com/articles/index.pl?photo=149

Which shows the method for stripping on a dynamic disk which yields, wait
for it now, a software RAID 5 equivalent.
 
I knew I was some what sane..... Well any way, I too have read that same site
but it still does not answer the question "Since the raid array was built
using Windows Software RAID, in the event that you have to
reinstall the os, do you have to re-build the array, or will the raided
partitions remain intact?"
 
Remember a hardware RAID keeps the information allowing you to loose your OS,
but if your OS is what maintains your RAID how can you rebuild Windows and
keep your RAID? Is it kept on your Array and Windows will recover it as soon
as you reinstall Windows?
 
Anybody with any ideals??

Schlafly said:
I knew I was some what sane..... Well any way, I too have read that same site
but it still does not answer the question "Since the raid array was built
using Windows Software RAID, in the event that you have to
reinstall the os, do you have to re-build the array, or will the raided
partitions remain intact?"
Click to expand...
 
Well, I was ready to call "nutso," then I found this:

http://www.techimo.com/articles/index.pl?photo=149

Which shows the method for stripping on a dynamic disk which yields,
wait for it now, a software RAID 5 equivalent.
Click to expand...

XP will not let you create a fault tolerant RAID array. Disk stripping
creates a RAID0 array. Used on it's own, it's the worst thing you can do as
failure aof any 1 drive will crap all of your data. Software fault
tolerance (RAID1 or RAID5) arrays are only available on Windows Server.
 
Asher_N said:
XP will not let you create a fault tolerant RAID array. Disk stripping
creates a RAID0 array. Used on it's own, it's the worst thing you can
do as failure aof any 1 drive will crap all of your data.
Click to expand...


Although it's true that a failure of any drive in a RAID 0 array means the
loss of everything on the array, it does *not* follow from that that it's
the worst thing you can do.

For anyone whose data is important to them, it's necessary to protect
himself against the loss of that data. The way to do that is with backups
stored externally to the computer. That need exists whether you have a
single drive, multiple drives, a RAID 0 array, a RAID 1 array, or anything
else.
 
Although it's true that a failure of any drive in a RAID 0 array means
the loss of everything on the array, it does *not* follow from that
that it's the worst thing you can do.

For anyone whose data is important to them, it's necessary to protect
himself against the loss of that data. The way to do that is with
backups stored externally to the computer. That need exists whether
you have a single drive, multiple drives, a RAID 0 array, a RAID 1
array, or anything else.
Click to expand...

Remember that this is a XP newsgroup. Workstations are not usually backed
up. Also see the OP's comment that identified stripping (RAID0) as a
Raid5 equivalent. If you have multiple disks, and presuming no backups, a
RAID0 config is worse than not spanning disks.
 
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