[AccessD] Going to Raid - Win2K

JMoss jmoss111 at bellsouth.net
Sat May 15 00:39:41 CDT 2004


With the Promise RAID, you get two cables. I think that you can put both
drives on one cable but I also think that the controller has a channel per
connector, which is almost as good as having two controllers for duplexing
in case a controller flakes.

I can't lay my hands on a manual right now so I cant be sure about the  two
drives on a cable, but like I said I think that you gain a channel by using
both connectors, and thats just like adding a pair of suspenders along with
a belt to insure that your pants stay up.

This is definitely the way to go for anyone that just absolutely can't
afford to lose their data, and a lot of motherboards are shipping with RAID
controllers on board. I read somewhere, maybe on winternals.com that you can
use the software RAID functionality of Win 2000 Server on 2000 Pro.

J



-----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 12:22 AM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: RE: [AccessD] Going to Raid - Win2K


This brings up another question, do you place both mirror drives on the same
IDE cable?  If you can choose, is there any advantage to giving each drive
it's own IDE cable (simultaneous operations and the like)?.

John W. Colby
www.ColbyConsulting.com

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of JMoss
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2004 1:01 AM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: RE: [AccessD] Going to Raid - Win2K


John,

If the Highpoint is anything like the Promise RAID controller, all that you
have to do is load the drivers with the first drive still connected to the
original controller, and then reboot. At the reboot, power down the system
move the controller cable to the RAID controller and plug the new drive in
also. Just make sure you know which connector is which. When the system
reboots, the RAID utility runs and allows you to build the mirror. One
thing, make sure that the RAID is set for Security rather than Performance
because performance doesn't mirror but stripes. See this link for an
explanation of RAID 0 striping, and RAID 1 mirroring.

You might want to check out some other vendor than Newegg, because they
recently starting collecting sales tax, or they did in Tennessee. Sales tax
and their shipping rates forced me to switch back to www.tcwo.com who's
shipping in a flat $6.95 for up to 150 lbs, plus they don't collect
Tennessee tax.

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of John W. Colby
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 11:44 PM
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


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