[dba-Tech] RE: Going to Raid - Win2K

DJK(John) Robinson djkr at msn.com
Sat May 15 09:20:07 CDT 2004


(was [AccessD])

All the Win2K documentation I can find says that a software mirror (RAID 1)
can be ONLY on Win2K Server, not Win2K Pro.  A possible area of confusion is
that you can apparently use Win2k Pro to create a mirror on a Server, so I
guess the administrative software is on both but the functional code only on
the Server.

With WinXP Pro you can do it, however.

Copying files on NT4?  Is (was) this a supported facility?  Sure, it might
work, but would I trust valuable data to it?  Doubtful.  Irrelevant now,
anyway.

HTH
John


> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com 
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of JMoss
> Sent: 15 May 2004 07:09
> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> Subject: RE: [AccessD] Going to Raid - Win2K
> 
> 
> I was looking around in diskmanagement on 2000 pro and it 
> appears to have RAID 1 configurability. In NT4 you had to 
> copy files from server to get the RAID 1 configurability in 
> NT 4 Workstation.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of JMoss
> Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2004 12:40 AM
> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> Subject: RE: [AccessD] Going to Raid - Win2K
> 
> 
> 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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