First Time RAID 1 Set Up

[sketchpad]

Hi everyone, my main storage drive is about to die, clicking noises etc.
I've backed up the important data and will buy 2 new drives to configure in RAID 1.
Is it as simple as plugging in 2 new drives, going into the bios and assigning the drives to RAID 1?
Motherboard: AsRock FM2A85X
Thanks,
P.

 

[USAFRet]

It seems that you wish to use 2 drives in a RAID 1 as a backup situation. From your posted description, drive failing, this might be an obvious choice.

RAID is not a backup.

In certain cases, it helps. Potential drive fail, such as you are seeing. But an actual backup of your data is something completely different.

RAID 1 only helps in case of a drive fail, and you need continuous operation. Such as running a webstore, where downtime = lost sales. It can't safeguard your actual data. Accidental deletions, data corruption, viruses, etc....
With RAID 1, that simply happens on both drives.
So...if you want an actual backup of your data, you have some sort of backup routine. And if you have a real backup, RAID 1 is not needed.

What type of stuff are you looking to include in this RAID 1? The OS drive? Or a secondary drive?
Further suggestions will depend on the answer to that.

 

[sketchpad]

Its not my OS drive, its a storage drive for photos, videos etc. I back up every 2-3 weeks, sometimes monthly so I'm not worried about catastrophic data loss.
I figured having a RAID 1 setup would be easier to deal with rather than restoring from a backup image? If one drive fails I just pull it out and pop in a new one, no hassle? Maybe I'm way off the mark as to the actual work involved?

 

[USAFRet]

Its not my OS drive, its a storage drive for photos, videos etc. I back up every 2-3 weeks, sometimes monthly so I'm not worried about catastrophic data loss.
I figured having a RAID 1 setup would be easier to deal with rather than restoring from a backup image? If one drive fails I just pull it out and pop in a new one, no hassle? Maybe I'm way off the mark as to the actual work involved?

For a storage drive of random files, there are much easier and safer ways to do this.

SyncBack Free, for instance.
Give it source and target folders, a schedule, and let it run.
It simply creates a second copy over to your other drive. No RAID needed.

Or, a couple of the current cloning tools can do a whole disk image on a schedule. Macrium Reflect or Casper. Let it run every night at 2AM. Incremental or differential backups.