Raid 1 on W7

JEB

JEB

JEB

Associate
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
1,469
Location
Caithness, Scotland
Gona be buliding again this weekend and have 2 x 1TB Samsungs that I am going to use in Raid 1 on W7. I've not done a W7 install before. What's the drill on setting up R1 under it? Also - is it best to use the Intel Max storage consol for controlling this, or is there a better way?
Not had much experience with either setting up raid 1 or W7, so just need a few pointers to set me off please.
 
If it's a clean install, instead of adding 2 new drives to an existing install then;

1. Enable RAID in your BIOS and reboot.
2. You'll see a new screen for the Intel Controller (CTRL+I to enter it)
3. Create a new Mirrored RAID by selecting the disks, save and exit
4. If it doesn't reboot, you're best of resetting the machine to re-enter the BIOS and change your HD boot order
5. Stick the Windows 7 DVD in and install, it will load the drivers automatically for ICHxR controller.
6. Once in Windows, download the Intel Matrix Storage Manager software at your leisure and install.

If you're already running Windows 7 and these are additional drives it can either be simpler or more complex. If you're controller is already in RAID mode then just plug them in, set them up either as per steps 1-3 above or through the Matrix Manager software.

If you're running in IDE mode and your boot disk is on the same controller then you're going to have to frig windows to install the RAID drivers and a registry entry so that it loads AHCI/RAID drivers before you change the BIOS. Otherwise Windows will BSOD during the boot, as it will try to use the IDE drivers. This is a bit awkward and I tend to just re-install Windows.

Hopefully you're in scenario 1 or 2 in which case it's pretty easy :)
 
Hi - it's a clean install with 2 new drives. Thanks for the instructions. I'm fine up until step 6. Why do I need the Matrix manager software, or is it this that actually creates the raid between the 2 disks once W7 has been loaded?
I notice v 8.9.0.1023 of the Matrix Storage Manager is available. Is that version the best to go for e.g. is it bug free being the newest version, or am I better to go for an older one?
 
You don't really need the matrix manager, Windows will use it's own drivers for the RAID.

The 1023 drivers will perform slightly better - they've been out for ages, and pretty rock solid from my experience. Also it installs the manager application to view the status of the RAID array, gives you a simple way to enable write-back cache easily and if the worst does happen, allows you to rebuild the array from within Windows.

It's not really necessary for you to use your RAID1, but I'd recommend it - that's why I say at your leisure :)
 
Ace - thanks for that. When you unstall it then at stage 6, is it smart enough to know that the raid 1 is already built as part of the W7 install, and it just lets you manage the raid from then in, or does it try to re-build the raid on the volume when you install it for the first time.
I'd die if I lost my data! I know it's fine saying back it up regulary etc, but in reality that'll not happen. Apart from the cost of having to buy an extra disc that you loose to the raid, I'd say Raid 1 is a no-brainer and def the way to go. Thanks for your help.

Edit - can write-back cache be used with Raid 1, I though it was only available for use with raid 5?
 
Last edited:
Once you've set the BIOS and created the RAID in the controller BIOS screen, Windows will just treat it as a single disk.

When you update the drivers it will just replace the MS ones, you'll have to reboot and that's about it. I've never know it try to rebuild the RAID1 or lose data - but just to be safe, do it as one of the first steps when you've got your new OS installed and before you start installing lots of apps and data.

Remember RAID1 will only protect you from a physical HD failure. It won't stop you accidentally deleting stuff, protect you from a virus/malware or physical risks such as theft, fire, flood etc. So make sure you backup as well from time to time :)
 
You need the Matrix software for switching on and off certain cache settings, gives you notification in windows of a drive failure and to verify the data on the drives after a bad shutdown.
 
With a W7 install do you still need to make a raid install disk by copying the files off the mobo DVD, or does W7 take care of this itself these days?
 
ChileanLlama said:
If you're running in IDE mode and your boot disk is on the same controller then you're going to have to frig windows to install the RAID drivers and a registry entry so that it loads AHCI/RAID drivers before you change the BIOS.
Click to expand...

Hi! I'm in a similar position, but: (i) I've already installed Windows, and my BIOS was set to IDE mode at the time; (ii) I'm setting up a RAID 1 array post-install.

I think I know the registry edit that's needed to switch to AHCI mode (which I'd like to do regardless of the RAID):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci:Start=0

But what about RAID? Another registry edit, or...?

Note: I'm not trying to boot off the RAID array; it's for document storage only.

Thanks! :)
 
Hmmm...is the boot drive on the same controller as the RAID array will be? If so yes, you need to ensure that the drivers are available and you've done the registry tweak as you've said. If it's an Intel controller a single disk attached to the controller in RAID mode is handled as AHCI. So you should be ok.

You only need to frig the registry & make drivers available for your boot disk, so that Windows has the correct drivers during boot. It's not necessary for your other disks, your new RAID1 will be autodetected once you've created it in the controller BIOS and you next boot Windows (or you should be able to create from with Windows using the Matrix Controller software).
 
OK, thanks very much! :) I'll give it a go tomorrow morning. If all else fails, it's no biggie for me to reinstall Win7, anyway: I've only installed one or two apps on top of it. :)

Actually, just to double check I understood correctly... My BIOS has three options under "RAID mode": IDE, AHCI, and RAID.

  • IDE means everything is running in IDE mode
  • AHCI means everything is running in AHCI mode
  • RAID means there'll be RAID support, but drives outside of a RAID array are running in AHCI mode
Is this correct? If you don't actually configure any RAID array, are the AHCI and RAID settings almost equivalent?

P.S. All drives are on the same controller, which is indeed an Intel controller. (Motherboard is an MSI P55-GD65.)
 
That's correct.

The only thing I'm not 100% sure on is whether it uses the same AHCI driver if in pure AHCI mode versus running as AHCI on a controller.

If you're installing from scratch it's a doddle.

I'd be tempted to make sure your spangly new SSD is on the first port with your other drives removed. Set your BIOS to RAID and check that it's on the first port on the Intel BIOS screen. Install Windows as normal.

Once you're happy with that, connect your 2 storage drives up then enter the ICHxR BIOS by CTRL+I. Create a mirrored RAID, selecting the 2 storage disks, I'd leave it as standard stripe size and it should default to the full capacity (i.e. the size of 1 disk). Once you've done that accept your changes, and CTRL+ALT+DEL or Reset and then go into the mobo BIOS. Check the boot order is still correct and it's still your SSD as first HD (it should be). Then exit and let the machine boot back into Windows, it will detect the new drives and you may need to initialise and format them, perhaps asking for a reboot.
 
Could you explain what you mean by "first port"? My SSD is on port 0 (it appears first in the list in the BIOS). In fact, I was slightly confused by the BIOS, because it listed things like PM/PS/SM/SS, which I presume are primary/secondary master/slave. But I thought those concepts didn't exist in the SATA world? Then, on another screen, it lists 3M/3S/4M/4S (for the same drives)! (I'm not at the PC now, but I can be more precise when I get home from work in an hour or so.)

In fact, I have five SATA devices in my system, which (I think) are currently installed as follows:

  • Port 0: SSD (Crucial CT64M225)
  • Port 1: 1 TB - general data storage
  • Ports 2/3: 2x 1.5 TB - photo storage - hopefully RAID 1 eventually!
  • Port 4: DVD-RW

Does that look about right, or...?

Sorry for all the questions! But thanks for your help! :)
 
OK, I have the specifics now. I'd misremembered about the primary/secondary, but one screen still lists what I can only assume means master/slave.

On the "Standard CMOS Features" screen, I have the following:

  • SATA1 = Crucial SSD
  • SATA2 = 1 TB HDD
  • SATA3 = 1.5 TB HDD
  • SATA4 = 1.5 TB HDD
  • SATA5 = DVD-RW

So, first is my boot disk; second is my document storage; and third and fourth are the two that I want to mirror.

On the "Boot Sequence" page, I have this:

  • 1st boot device = Sata:3M Crucial SSD
  • 2nd boot device = Sata:4M 1 TB HDD
  • 3rd boot device = Sata:3S 1.5 TB HDD
  • 4th boot device = Sata:4S 1.5 TB HDD
  • 5th boot device = DVD-RW

Leaving aside the fact that I'm only ever planning on booting from the SSD (so I might as well remove the other three HDDs from the boot sequence), am I right in thinking that M & S stand for master & slave? If so, do they have the same meaning as they do in the IDE world? And one more: what on earth do those 3 & 4 mean? They're surely not channel numbers? Unless they're just counters, and 1 & 2 would be IDE devices, if any were present?

More generally, does this look OK to you? :D

Thanks again! :)
 
Yep, that looks about right. When you switch the RAID on it won't list the drives as master/slaves any more anyway :)

Remove all your HDs (and any USB drives) during the initial install...it makes sure you're installing on the correct drive and won't put any system files on your other disks. Plug them back in once installed.

Now for the bad news, you're probably going to have trouble with TRIM.

I'm not certain that the RAID drivers (even the MS standard one) passes the TRIM command. Wiper will work with the standard MS driver, but very very slowly, we're talking hours - maybe a day - versus minutes in pure AHCI or IDE modes.

Secondly, you should really install the Intel Matrix Manager software/drivers as this will give you feedback/status on your RAID1 - a positive is that it will allow write back cache to be enabled which increases performance a bit.

I know you've been waiting for TRIM before using the drive, but with this config it's not going to run until Intel provide some RAID drivers that support TRIM.

The good news is that Crucial have said that the next firmware will include both a TRIM version and a GC version, so the GC one will be the one for you to go with.

The only other alternative is to leave your ICHxR in AHCI mode and move your 2xRAID1 drives to another controller onboard if you have it or a separate PCI/PCI-e RAID controller.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...if it's any consolation I run 3xSSD RAID0s without TRIM or GC :D
 
Thanks very much for the informative replies, CL! I'll mull over this info overnight and decide what to do in the morning. :)

EDIT: I wonder why you can't run some drives in AHCI mode and just the ones to which it applies in RAID mode...?
 
It's the controller drivers passing the TRIM command. So whilst the drive itself is running in AHCI mode the controller is set to RAID and the RAID drivers are different to the ones if the controller is set to AHCI only mode - and no doubt more complexity for them to implement TRIM successfully in RAID.
 
Aha, makes sense. So, if I wanted to run Wiper on the (non-RAIDed) SSD, would I be able to set the BIOS to AHCI mode, boot into Windows, run Wiper, reset the BIOS to RAID mode, boot back into Windows, and see the RAID "drive" as before? Or is the array "lost" as soon as you step out of RAID mode?

If the above idea actually works, what would happen during the non-RAID running of Windows? Would the two drives from the RAID array appear separately? Would they happily go back to their RAIDed state? What if the contents of one of the drives got accidentally altered during their time apart?

(Seems like I'm eternally curious! I guess I prefer to know the results of my actions before I take them, if possible. ;))
 
Yes you could do that. I would disable or disconnect your RAID1 during the process though. I would expect them to show as two separate drives, both with the same contents. But it could get messy if anything writes anything to them while broken, this would also avoid any lengthy RAID1 verifying once you put it back in RAID.

If you have a spare drive it might be better booting from that, I use an old HD through e-sata with Win7 and my tools on, that way my main install won't get messed about with missing/redetecting drives.

I'd make sure you had a backup though, just in case :)

To be fair, if Crucial do release a GC firmware in the next few weeks, then you're not going to have to go through this process in that timescale.

I did have a think, and there's perhaps another alternative for you...Keep the Intel controller in AHCI, and create the RAID1 through Windows, disk management, initially it will see it as 2 separate drives and you'll create a mirrored dynamic disk on them.

Performance won't be as good on the RAID1 as it's purely software, but at least you'll still have the full TRIM and Wiper available all of the time :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom