[SOLVED] Can I take a 2tb and 4tb hdd raid 1 half the 4tb and still use the other 2tb

[WINTERLORD]

I'm wondering as a home user I don't do much with my storage drives but am wondering if I got a 4tb drive could I raid half of it and still use the leftover 2tb? Or use windows storage spaces to raid half and still be able to use the other half?
For redundancy

 

[Lutfij]

In RAID 0, you're advised to use two exact drives, if one drive is smaller, they will both operate with the capacity of the smaller drive. The leftover space you speak of, however, might not be accessible...what RAID controller are you working with?

 

[DSzymborski]

What's your current backup situation? Both now and what it would be if you set up a RAID 0. (Note that a RAID is not a backup solution).

 

[WINTERLORD]

Raid controller just using the basic Intel one on a b365 motherboard as for the data I want to create for redundancy not raid zero was thinking if I add a 4tb drive to a 2tb drive I could use half in a raid and use the other half as normal storage

Question bout backup software it automatic ly makes backups right so when it creates a backup making incremental backups only changes what's different correct? Or does backup software rerun the entire 2tb every time I'm guessing not

I actualy don't have a backup at moment I backup like 500gb onto another drive the rest is expendable but if I could get just one 4tb drive and raid half of it for redunacy while using the other half for reguler storage if not an option with raid
Would storage spaces make this an optionn to have 2tb redundant with 2tb reguler

Using 1x 2tb drive and 1x4tb drive

 

[DSzymborski]

Raid controller just using the basic Intel one on a b365 motherboard as for the data I want to create for redundancy not raid zero was thinking if I add a 4tb drive to a 2tb drive I could use half in a raid and use the other half as normal storage

Question bout backup software it automatic ly makes backups right so when it creates a backup making incremental backups only changes what's different correct? Or does backup software rerun the entire 2tb every time I'm guessing not

Depends on the software. Some you can take an image of the entire drive, some you can specific directories or files and only have files that are changed or added backed up.

RAID is only really useful for very specific tasks: applications in which data availability is more important than data protection, certain types of servers, or when the main use of the PC is things like feeding large sequential files. Other than that, it's a waste of space and too complex, for no real-world gain; a RAID doesn't make sense for probably >99% of consumers.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm wondering as a home user I don't do much with my storage drives but am wondering if I got a 4tb drive could I raid half of it and still use the leftover 2tb? Or use windows storage spaces to raid half and still be able to use the other half?
For redundancy

Maybe.
But why?

Redundancy? So this is a RAID 1?

There are MUCH better ways to protect your data.

 

[USAFRet]

Question bout backup software it automatic ly makes backups right so when it creates a backup making incremental backups only changes what's different correct? Or does backup software rerun the entire 2tb every time I'm guessing not

Macrium does exactly that.

A Full Image, followed by a series of Incremental or Differential.

Or a series of Full Images.
Or all of the above.
Whatever schedule you set that meets your needs.

My wifes system with its minimal storage needs gets a Full image every other day.
My system gets Incrementals every night, each physical drive independently.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[ex_bubblehead]

....was thinking if I add a 4tb drive to a 2tb drive I could use half in a raid and use the other half as normal storage....

That's not how RAID works. You will lose all access to that extra 2TB as long as that drive is a RAID member. And, as already stated, RAID is NOT backup and has extremely narrow use cases, general home use isn't one of them.

 

[WINTERLORD]

Hmm well what about storage spaces can you take a 2tb and 4tb make half redundant while using the other half for whatever

 

[DSzymborski]

Hmm well what about storage spaces can you take a 2tb and 4tb make half redundant while using the other half for whatever

But...why? If you want a backup, there are far better ways to back things up. Don't do something just to do something; those kinds of decisions rarely age well.

Start with what your goal is and then find the most practical path to the end.