Non-destructive RAID ?

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

I have two 200Gb Maxtor DiamondMax +9s PATA drives in my tower and would
like to know from any of the experts out there whether it is possible to
connect them up in a RAID configuration WITHOUT losing about 170gigs worth
of installed software/downloads/programming files/my website/shared files
etc. etc...

Can it be done ? I have the feeling that I'll have to burn an awful lot of
rewritable CDs if I don't want to lose all my stuff, and have to re-install
everything.

Thankx.

Stu.
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

"Stuart Gibson" <no e-mail address> wrote in message
news:1085595466.20599.0@eunomia.uk.clara.net...
> I have two 200Gb Maxtor DiamondMax +9s PATA drives in my tower and would
> like to know from any of the experts out there whether it is possible to
> connect them up in a RAID configuration WITHOUT losing about 170gigs worth
> of installed software/downloads/programming files/my website/shared files
> etc. etc...
>
> Can it be done ? I have the feeling that I'll have to burn an awful lot
of
> rewritable CDs if I don't want to lose all my stuff, and have to
re-install
> everything.
>
> Thankx.
>
> Stu.
>

What RAID mode are you talking about? Given two drives you could either
stripe or mirror the data. My guess is that there is no way to manage
striping without losing data. Maybe, just maybe, it might be possible to
mirror by copying all the data to one drive and letting the RAID controller
rebuild the copy on the other drive (but I wouldn't bet too heavily on it).
The manufacturer of your RAID controller should be able to tell you if the
mirroring is possible without data loss.
--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

Stuart Gibson wrote:
> I have two 200Gb Maxtor DiamondMax +9s PATA drives in my tower and
> would like to know from any of the experts out there whether it is
> possible to connect them up in a RAID configuration WITHOUT losing
> about 170gigs worth of installed software/downloads/programming
> files/my website/shared files etc. etc...

What OS are you using?

--
Alex

"We are now up against live, hostile targets"

"So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad
attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch! "

www.drzoidberg.co.uk
www.upce.org.uk
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

Windows XP Pro

"Dr Zoidberg" <AlexNOOOO!!!!@drzoidberg.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2hk5s3Fdr1gfU1@uni-berlin.de...
> Stuart Gibson wrote:
> > I have two 200Gb Maxtor DiamondMax +9s PATA drives in my tower and
> > would like to know from any of the experts out there whether it is
> > possible to connect them up in a RAID configuration WITHOUT losing
> > about 170gigs worth of installed software/downloads/programming
> > files/my website/shared files etc. etc...
>
> What OS are you using?
>
> --
> Alex
>
> "We are now up against live, hostile targets"
>
> "So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad
> attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch! "
>
> www.drzoidberg.co.uk
> www.upce.org.uk
>
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

On Wed, 26 May 2004 19:17:44 +0100, "Stuart Gibson" <no e-mail address>
wrote:

>I have two 200Gb Maxtor DiamondMax +9s PATA drives in my tower and would
>like to know from any of the experts out there whether it is possible to
>connect them up in a RAID configuration WITHOUT losing about 170gigs worth
>of installed software/downloads/programming files/my website/shared files
>etc. etc...
>
>Can it be done ? I have the feeling that I'll have to burn an awful lot of
>rewritable CDs if I don't want to lose all my stuff, and have to re-install
>everything.
>
>Thankx.
>
>Stu.
>

You cannot build a RAID0 array or striped array without losing (copying
off, defining parititon/format/etc, copying back) data.
..
You can build a RAID1 by rebuilding array from drive with data to (other)
drive.

Frankly, since you don't seem to have enough storage on additional drives,
implied by mention of burning those CDs, I wouldn't use your only two
large drives for a RAID0. In fact, you might find that for many uses,
having two drives connected to motherboard IDE ports is faster than those
drives in a RAID0 attached to additional RAID controller on PCI bus.
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

To convert your two drives to a RAID array you would HAVE to reformat them
and do a clean install of Windows and all your programs. No way around it.
I would recommend leaving it alone.

--
DaveW



"Stuart Gibson" <no e-mail address> wrote in message
news:1085595466.20599.0@eunomia.uk.clara.net...
> I have two 200Gb Maxtor DiamondMax +9s PATA drives in my tower and would
> like to know from any of the experts out there whether it is possible to
> connect them up in a RAID configuration WITHOUT losing about 170gigs worth
> of installed software/downloads/programming files/my website/shared files
> etc. etc...
>
> Can it be done ? I have the feeling that I'll have to burn an awful lot
of
> rewritable CDs if I don't want to lose all my stuff, and have to
re-install
> everything.
>
> Thankx.
>
> Stu.
>
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

"DaveW" <none@zero.org> wrote in message
news:Bu9tc.5614$Ly.4315@attbi_s01...
> To convert your two drives to a RAID array you would HAVE to reformat them
> and do a clean install of Windows and all your programs. No way around
it.
> I would recommend leaving it alone.
>
> --
> DaveW
>

Hello Group, NO you would NOT have to do a clean install of windows!!!!!
I've installed 2 Adaptec Raid 2400a controllers in a windows XP-Pro system
and did NOT have to re-install anything!!!!!

Just follow the 2400a instructions from Adaptec!!!

Starz_Kid...
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

"Starz_Kid" wrote:

> "DaveW" <none@zero.org> wrote in message
> news:Bu9tc.5614$Ly.4315@attbi_s01...
>> To convert your two drives to a RAID array you would HAVE to reformat
>> them and do a clean install of Windows and all your programs. No way
>> around
> it.
>> I would recommend leaving it alone.
>>
>> --
>> DaveW
>>
>
> Hello Group, NO you would NOT have to do a clean install of
> windows!!!!! I've installed 2 Adaptec Raid 2400a controllers in a
> windows XP-Pro system and did NOT have to re-install anything!!!!!
>
> Just follow the 2400a instructions from Adaptec!!!

Yes!!! But!!! Only!!! An!!! Idiot!!! Would!!! Piss!!! Around!!! With!!!
Their!!! HD's!!! Without!!! Backing!!! Up!!!


[I've been celebrating another year closer to the grave, sorry if it
shows]


Dave.
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

Thanks for all the useful advice, people.

I think I'll leave it alone for now, seeing as its working.

I might have to put my hand in my pocket and buy another HD, then I'll have
a bit more room to manoeuvre. I need another one to finish off my Pentium
III standby machine anyway.

Cheers,

Stu.

"Stuart Gibson" <no e-mail address> wrote in message
news:1085595466.20599.0@eunomia.uk.clara.net...
> I have two 200Gb Maxtor DiamondMax +9s PATA drives in my tower and would
> like to know from any of the experts out there whether it is possible to
> connect them up in a RAID configuration WITHOUT losing about 170gigs worth
> of installed software/downloads/programming files/my website/shared files
> etc. etc...
>
> Can it be done ? I have the feeling that I'll have to burn an awful lot
of
> rewritable CDs if I don't want to lose all my stuff, and have to
re-install
> everything.
>
> Thankx.
>
> Stu.
>
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt,alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

What RAID card will you be using? Just XP software RAID? Depending on what
hardware you use, you may very well be able to go to RAID 0 or 1 without
losing any data. I have converted from a single drive setup to RAID 0
without losing any data at all-this was using an Intel motherboard with
built in hardware raid and using the Intel Application Accelerator RAID
edition 3.0. Smooth as can be but I will admit I was a little nervous while
the data was migrating over to the second drive.

--Dan

"Stuart Gibson" <no e-mail address> wrote in message
news:1085595466.20599.0@eunomia.uk.clara.net...
> I have two 200Gb Maxtor DiamondMax +9s PATA drives in my tower and would
> like to know from any of the experts out there whether it is possible to
> connect them up in a RAID configuration WITHOUT losing about 170gigs worth
> of installed software/downloads/programming files/my website/shared files
> etc. etc...
>
> Can it be done ? I have the feeling that I'll have to burn an awful lot
of
> rewritable CDs if I don't want to lose all my stuff, and have to
re-install
> everything.
>
> Thankx.
>
> Stu.
>
>
>
 
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