A few Raid Questions

[jgigz]

Currently I have a WD640GB, separated into two partition and is just used for storage. I want to implement raid 5 at some point, and I'm aware that when I do, I will more than likely have to move the data off the drives, build the raid setup then move the data back on (correct?). Initial plan is to buy 2 more of the same drive.

I do overclock and I have a habit of changing setups rather frequently (once a year or or 2 years tops) and I'm not sure how well the on board raid functions, IE can I jump across platforms and upgrade motherboards and not have to worry about losing the array? Or will that only work if I keep the raid drivers the same across platform/motherboard jumps? Or would I be better off with a separate raid controller card?

If I run out of space or feel the need to expand the array and add more storage, is it possible to just add more drives to the array without losing data? Is it possible to replace the current drives in the area with newer/larger drives and keep it intact?

I have no problem with actually creating the arrays, I've just always done raid 0 and done a fresh install whenever I upgraded etc, but now that I'm stockpiling quite a bit of media/content that I don't want to lose, these are a few questions that I'm quite sure of.

Thanks

 

[Blain]

yes
no
what?
yes
no?
no

 

[jgigz]

Originally posted by: Blain
yes
no
what?
yes
no?
no

(assuming I'm answering the right question) I switch out parts and upgrade quite a bit, and if the Raid controller is on the motherboard, would there be any issues from frequent swapping of motherboards, different chipsets etc, would this affect the array? As in would other motherboards with on board raid controllers be able to detect and use the array, or would I have to rebuild the array with each new board?

 

[Blain]

answered... no

If you're constantly swapping MBs & HDs... RAID 5 isn't for you.

 

[Madwand1]

If you're changing setups so frequently, why don't you consider taking one of the older ones and making a file server out of it? It's a good idea to have a stable platform for your storage.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
If you're changing setups so frequently, why don't you consider taking one of the older ones and making a file server out of it? It's a good idea to have a stable platform for your storage.

This. Or, even better, build a Windows Home Server with redundancy enabled for important folders. You'll also get automated backups of all your PCs and an extremely simple restoration process for those PCs that includes easy restoration of RAID and networking drivers.

 

[thermite88]

Originally posted by: jgigz
Currently I have a WD640GB, separated into two partition and is just used for storage. I want to implement raid 5 at some point, and I'm aware that when I do, I will more than likely have to move the data off the drives, build the raid setup then move the data back on (correct?). Initial plan is to buy 2 more of the same drive.

Thanks

You can convert a single drive to a RAID array using Intel Matrix RAID Manager. Tom's Hardware has an article on RAID migration. The 6th page is Upgrade Single Hard Drives In A RAID Array.

I have not tried it yet myself, but don't see any reason that it shouldn't work. You have seen all the warning about backup before the migration. No need for me to repeat them here.