Is There Such a Thing as Virtual RAID

[whoknew]

Here is the back story - Four physical hard drives configured in RAID0. Two of the hard drives are 1TB and two of the hard drives are 320GBs. The two 320GBs hard drives are configured as the system drive in RAID0. One of the drives has failed and operating system is corrupted. Data on the two 1TB hard drives has to be backed up.

Here is the scenario - Two 2TB hard drives were recently purchased. One has been delivered the other has not shipped yet. Is it possible to either:

- Partition the 2TB hard drive into two 1TB partitions and configure RAID0 (virtual RAID0 - I guess)

OR

- Create a 320GB partition on the 2TB hard drive and then place it in the SATA port where the failed hard drive was housed and then configured RAID0 that way


The only reason these scenarios are being posed is to recover the data off of the two 2TB hard drives that are currently configured in RAID0. Once the other hard drive ships and is delivered, this question is moot. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether either, neither, or both of these scenarios would work?

Also, is there a more concrete way of recovering the data off of the two 2TB hard drives?

 

[PhilFrisbie]

Why do you need RAID 0 on the system drive just to backup the other drives??

 

[danraies]

There is no virtual RAID in the manner you're discussing. The point of RAID0 is that you get to use two physical lanes of data to increase the speed. If both drives in the RAID are actually two partitions on the same drive then you're not actually using two physical lanes.

You're not going to be able to get the data off your two 1TB drives without an operating system to do the transfer (at least not easily). I don't know what you're planning on using for a system drive, but you should install your operating system and then transfer the data to the 2TB drive that you have.

I could be wrong but it sounds like you're under the impression that you need another RAID0 in order to back up the 2x1TB RAID0 that you already have, but you don't - any drive sufficiently large will do just fine.

 

[whoknew]

There is no virtual RAID in the manner you're discussing. The point of RAID0 is that you get to use two physical lanes of data to increase the speed. If both drives in the RAID are actually two partitions on the same drive then you're not actually using two physical lanes.

You're not going to be able to get the data off your two 1TB drives without an operating system to do the transfer (at least not easily). I don't know what you're planning on using for a system drive, but you should install your operating system and then transfer the data to the 2TB drive that you have.

I could be wrong but it sounds like you're under the impression that you need another RAID0 in order to back up the 2x1TB RAID0 that you already have, but you don't - any drive sufficiently large will do just fine.

Thanks for your response, danraies. It really cannot be that simple, can it? So basically I am over-thinking the situation. I was under the impression that a single hard drive, no matter the size, would not recognize data off of hard drives configured in a RAID0 configuration.

So, let me make sure I understand you correctly. Install the 2TB hard drive, install the operating system on that drive, and transfer data from two 1TB hard drives to the 2TB hard drive. Correct?

How about I take it one step further. How about I install the 2TB hard drive, install the operating system on the working 320GB hard drive, and then transfer the data from the two 1TB hard drives to the 2TB hard drive.

 

[danraies]

Assuming you're using a hardware RAID0 (i.e. you've set up a RAID0 in the bios, which is how it's usually done) and the RAID0 is still intact (it shouldn't have been affected by the failure of the one 320GB drive, then your last idea will work fine. You install Windows on the 320GB drive (you probably have to install a driver that lets Windows understand the RAID but this is a normal part of the Windows installation) and you attach the 2TB drive to your motherboard. When you're booted into windows you'll see three drives - one 320GB drive with windows on it, one 2TB drive that is actually the 2x1TB RAID0, and one empty 2TB drive that is the new drive. Format the new 2TB as ntfs (do NOT format the RAID0 drive) and then all you have to do is drag from the RAID0 drive to the new drive.

 

[whoknew]

Best answer selected by whoknew.

 

[whoknew]

Thank you, danraies. I have all the information I need at this point.