How do I set up Raid1

Gepetto · 16 Aug 2009 at 20:30

Right, I'd like to have a Raid1 setup to safeguard all my pics, having just had a HDD die on me. Luckily all my pics were saved to disc, but I lost all my e-mails.

Never having done this before i need some advice on how to actually achieve it. I have two identical HDD's, and I believe my motherboard (P5Q-P45) supports Raid, so I need to know how to get started, or where to find a guide.

My OS is already on one of the HDD's so do I need to Ghost (Acronis) that drive to the other drive before I start? There are no partitions on it.

Any advice would be welcome. :cool:

Gepetto · 16 Aug 2009 at 21:36

Thanks guys.

Could I ghost my existing HD to a spare one (I have a little raptor I was using as a boot disk which has my OS on it) and do I then format both the HDD's I want to use in my Raid.

Thereafter set up the Raid in the BIOS and, after that is done, ghost the Raptor onto one of the Raid drives? Or both? Is there a boot drive in Raid1?

Gepetto · 16 Aug 2009 at 21:56

JaseUK said:
why dont you use your raptor as a single drive with your OS installed on it and use your other 2 as RAID1

Too noisy basically. I may still get a separate boot drive, one day, but it will have to wait until the SSD's come down (way down) in price.

Gepetto · 17 Aug 2009 at 12:40

Thanks Steve. That did help, a lot.

Due to the complexity involved (as my OS is already in place) I've decided to get an external HD for backup purposes.

I may try Raid when I eventually go i7.

Thanks for all the help guys, I'll be able to refer back to this when necessary. :cool: