More RAID queries - with ASUS A7N8X
24 February 2004, 09:12 AM
#1
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More RAID queries - with ASUS A7N8X
Hi,
Still trying to finalise disks on the new pooter. I'm thinking along the lines of OS and apps. on one disk and data on another disk(s). It's the way I prefer to set things up. As the ASUS supports RAID I thought great, data disks RAID 0, great for video stuff etc. Then I looked at the WD Raptor and thought I'd go for one of those as the system disk as the disk can make a vast difference to how fast the machine feels.
Then I looked at the board layout again (I downloaded the manual for the mobo) and it seems if you want RAID you need a disk per ATA connector which leaves the poor old Raptor with nowhere to go. Or have I missed something here?
Ideally I'd like a Raptor as system disk (Serial ATA) and a RAID 0 couple of fast disks as data. Can this be done on this board?
Cheers in advance as usual ....
Dave
Still trying to finalise disks on the new pooter. I'm thinking along the lines of OS and apps. on one disk and data on another disk(s). It's the way I prefer to set things up. As the ASUS supports RAID I thought great, data disks RAID 0, great for video stuff etc. Then I looked at the WD Raptor and thought I'd go for one of those as the system disk as the disk can make a vast difference to how fast the machine feels.
Then I looked at the board layout again (I downloaded the manual for the mobo) and it seems if you want RAID you need a disk per ATA connector which leaves the poor old Raptor with nowhere to go. Or have I missed something here?
Ideally I'd like a Raptor as system disk (Serial ATA) and a RAID 0 couple of fast disks as data. Can this be done on this board?
Cheers in advance as usual ....
Dave
24 February 2004, 12:49 PM
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I've just done the very same thing on my A7N8X Deluxe.
The board has two regular IDE/P-ATA interfaces to support 4 devices, and 2 S-ATA connectors (1 device per connector)
RAID 1 or RAID 0 is designed to use a pair of disks..
I've got a ATA133 120gig drive for my OS and APPS, and 2x160gig S-ATA drives running mirrored RAID on the sata controller.
Didn't have any space issues but then I have a massive cheiftec midi tower.
If you want to use S-ATA for your OS disk then you could use software raid within windows XP/2003 server on a pair of regular ATA disks (You need to make them dynamic volumes).
One thing you could do is ditch your ATA drives and run a pair of S-ATA 200/250gig units - the only problem is the vast increase in price between 160 and 200 and upwards.
The board has two regular IDE/P-ATA interfaces to support 4 devices, and 2 S-ATA connectors (1 device per connector)
RAID 1 or RAID 0 is designed to use a pair of disks..
I've got a ATA133 120gig drive for my OS and APPS, and 2x160gig S-ATA drives running mirrored RAID on the sata controller.
Didn't have any space issues but then I have a massive cheiftec midi tower.
If you want to use S-ATA for your OS disk then you could use software raid within windows XP/2003 server on a pair of regular ATA disks (You need to make them dynamic volumes).
One thing you could do is ditch your ATA drives and run a pair of S-ATA 200/250gig units - the only problem is the vast increase in price between 160 and 200 and upwards.
Last edited by igratton; 24 February 2004 at 12:52 PM.
24 February 2004, 09:58 PM
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Thanks for the comments. OK. You've confirmed what I thought was the case. That is the SATA connections need to be used for RAID in hardware. Hadn't thought about the IDE software RAID (only been using XP on a laptop ...). I'm looking more towards the OS on a WD Raptor on one SATA channel then as most of the time it'll be the OS speed/ starting apps. etc that will take most of the time. And use SW RAID on 2 big disks on the IDE side.
Question on this though: as I'm thinking of a striped RAID for performance will I see much using this setup on the IDE channel? Also bear in mind that I will need a DVD writer on one also. BUT I guess when I need the speed from disk I won't be using the DVD .....
Cheers
Dave
Question on this though: as I'm thinking of a striped RAID for performance will I see much using this setup on the IDE channel? Also bear in mind that I will need a DVD writer on one also. BUT I guess when I need the speed from disk I won't be using the DVD .....
Cheers
Dave
24 February 2004, 10:27 PM
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traditionally it's always been mirrored pair for O/S, another mirror for logs and swop file, then R5 for apps and data.
but then it has been a while since I've done raid consultancy.
Phil
but then it has been a while since I've done raid consultancy.
Phil
24 February 2004, 11:04 PM
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Towzer: ta for that. But remember this is my home PC. I just want the OS to be fast (yeah yeah - I'm using XP so that's an oxymoron ..... :-) ) and I don't mind reloading it from scratch if needs be. I just make sure I have all the SW to hand. But i don't want to lose data (so an external disk for backups will also come into the picture ..) and I may want data access to be fast from the data disks ala video editing etc.
Cheers
Dave
Cheers
Dave
25 February 2004, 06:28 AM
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Dave,
I've got that board and tried a few things, I've now got my OS (XP Pro) on the SATA and it is a HUGE improvement over OS on IDE.
I've got one disk for OS and one for data with no RAID. I've got a couple of IDE disks offline and plug them in now and again for fast data backups.
Next time I can be bothered, I'll be putting in two big SATA drives and doing them striped to boost it even more and then just partition them in the OS.
Chris
I've got that board and tried a few things, I've now got my OS (XP Pro) on the SATA and it is a HUGE improvement over OS on IDE.
I've got one disk for OS and one for data with no RAID. I've got a couple of IDE disks offline and plug them in now and again for fast data backups.
Next time I can be bothered, I'll be putting in two big SATA drives and doing them striped to boost it even more and then just partition them in the OS.
Chris
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26 February 2004, 07:38 PM
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RAID 0 (for data especially) is a just a bad idea, you're effectively doubling the risk of a disk failure! I'd personally go for RAID 10 or RAID 5. Don't get me started with the evils of BIOS onboard RAID...
Last edited by class_A; 26 February 2004 at 07:39 PM.
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