jwcolby
jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Tue Jun 1 19:32:42 CDT 2004
Just an update, I ordered 2 80g hard drives to set up raid on my server system disk. That system has a raid controller on the motherboard. It was relatively painless, taking a mere 6-8 hours to figure out and implement. The Highpoint Rocketraid on the other hand... I almost RMAd, and probably should have done so. Following their instructions I managed to get the system in a state where it was an array but couldn't write the mirror, the software wouldn't allow any choice but "write the mirror" or continue booting. I couldn't undo and start over. I had an existing 120g hard drive with all my software installed, broken into partitions. I commonly create a system partition of 30-40g and then one or more partitions for my work stuff, and I wanted to just mirror that drive. NEVER DID. I have to guess it was the partitions but since the software had NO help files, no error codes, nothing on the web for help, no user groups, etc... In the end I just formatted and started over, where I managed to set up the mirror as I was doing the install, but I ended up with a single large partition, which I hate. Would I buy the controller again, or recommend it? Nope. It is functioning, but not on my terms. John W. Colby www.ColbyConsulting.com -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of John W. Colby Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2004 12:44 AM To: Tech - Database Advisors Inc.; AccessD Subject: [AccessD] Going to Raid - Win2K Folks, About 6 months ago my less than one year old Maxtor 120g hard drive bit the dust. I replaced it with an old 40g drive I had laying around and a 160g drive. I had intended to just replace it with a 160g but quickly discovered that Win2K doesn't natively support large hard disks until you get SP3 or better installed and manually edit the registry. Thus the old 40g to get Windows up, then the 160g set up. That 40g drive failed this week. In both cases my C: drive (partition) was lost. Backups simply aren't the end all and be all in a case like this because of all the programs and individualized settings for each program - the registry etc. What I have learned from this is that the lost productivity was roughly 2-3 days per incident, waaaay more than the delta cost of Raid 1. I have decided not to go through that again. I am now researching a Raid 1 solution (simple mirror) using a pair of Maxtor 120g drives. This gives me 40g for the system partition (drive c:) and 80g for my dev stuff, web dev etc. My current choice for controller (I do have $ limits to face) is a Highpoint RocketRaid 133. In order to get back up before the weekend I went down to Staples and plunked down the $ for a Maxtor 6y120P0 120g 8mb buffer hard disk. My intention at this point is to order a matching drive and the raid controller from www.Egghead.com and when I get it, set up the mirror. I have a couple of questions though for anyone who may have experience in this. 1) I have already partitioned the new drive and installed Win2K Pro, Office and other programs. Once I get the controller, can I just unplug this disk from my motherboard, plug it in to the raid controller, plug the matching drive in, and tell something to "set up the mirror"? I.e. the new drive gets the exact same partitions (there are three of them) created, files written, and I'm up and running mirrored? 2) If not am I facing a reinstall of everything again? 3) Is there anything I need to know? I just want it to work - I am not a (trained) system admin, I am a developer working in a SOHO. The idea is to get my dev system set up so that all of my installed software and development stuff never again die because a disk dies. I have found and read a bunch of articles on raid in general but can't find any detailed information on the PROCESS of setting the thing up, and specifically with this controller. I assume the documentation with the controller will tell me most of what I need to know, but of course.... what can go wrong will. Any comments or suggestions appreciated. John W. Colby -- _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com