[SOLVED] Any Negative Effects on a Win8.1 RAID array caused by a Linux Installation ?

thenewnumber2

Distinguished
Jan 14, 2009
275
2
18,815
My current setup is below-
Boot disc: 100 MB SSD connected to a mobo SATA port.
RAID arrays: 6 GB RAID 5 and 30 GB RAID 6 connected to an Areca 1882-ix-16 PCIe card.

So, I've gotten the urge to fool around with Linux for the first time. I plan to install a second SSD and connect it to a SATA port on the mobo, and of course disconnect the other drives before the Linux installation.

What I would like to know from the community is if the Linux installation is going to do anything unexpected to my RAID arrays, such as modify the file sytem in some way. I'm a complete newb when it come to Linux, and I'm unsure if my RAID arrays will still be functional in Win 8.1 if I start fooling with them while booted into Linux.

Well, I think you get the gist of my concern. Please let me know if I need to do anything to prevent Linux from causing my RAIDs to become unusable in Windows.

Thanks in advance,

The New Number Two (who just found his missing THF login information after 5 years!)
 
Solution
Well, I think you get the gist of my concern. Please let me know if I need to do anything to prevent Linux from causing my RAIDs to become unusable in Windows.
Have a known good backup, and know how to recover it.

All the well wishes in the world are worth squat if you click the wrong button.

Is the current file system NTFS? Probably.
Will your Linux install play nicely with that?

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Well, I think you get the gist of my concern. Please let me know if I need to do anything to prevent Linux from causing my RAIDs to become unusable in Windows.
Have a known good backup, and know how to recover it.

All the well wishes in the world are worth squat if you click the wrong button.

Is the current file system NTFS? Probably.
Will your Linux install play nicely with that?
 
Solution

thenewnumber2

Distinguished
Jan 14, 2009
275
2
18,815
Is the current file system NTFS? Probably.
Will your Linux install play nicely with that?

Yes, this is the key. Linux will not mount an NTFS drive by default: that must be done manually.

I have realized that I can simply omit the installation of the Areca driver, then the OS should be unaware that the RAID system even exists. I think this is the safest approach, and I don't really have a need to be fooling with the RAID disks while in Linux: it's just an experimental jaunt, after all.

Thanks for the fast replies,

The New Number Two