[SOLVED] RAID MIRROR

[doodah_man]

Hi,

Okay, here's my issue. I installed as a new install, WINDOWS 7 PREMIUM this weekend on an older Zotac H55-ITX mini-ITX board. Before installing BIOS didn't seem to recognize a second SSD. After the install it sees it. So how can I create a RAID mirror at this point, or really at any point for that matter?

 

[USAFRet]

Why RAID 1?
There are much better methods of data protection.

Unless you're running a webstore or similar, and really need 24/7 uninterrupted ops, RAID 1 is false security.

 

[doodah_man]

Why RAID 1?
There are much better methods of data protection.

Unless you're running a webstore or similar, and really need 24/7 uninterrupted ops, RAID 1 is false security.

Thanks for answering, but if I want to mirror my primary and later regret having done that, that would be my problem, right?

 

[popatim]

You can't do an Intel chipset mirror; the H55 chipset does not support raid.
You'll have to mirror C: using Windows.

For the instructions, I'll call the disk that C: is on =Disk# and the other drive =mirror

Click start & type: diskmgmt.msc
Rt click on it (in the search results) and select 'Run as Admin'
- this shows the volume information in the top part of the window and the drives in the lower with disk #'s on the left and their partitions to the right. We will be using the lower section.

Rt click on Disk# (on the left side) and select Convert to Dynamic. (ex: Rt click on Disk 0)
Repeat for the mirror disk. (ex: Rt click on Disk 1)
Now Rt click on the first partition to the right of Disk# and select 'Add Mirror' which will then allow you to select your other drive as the mirror.
Repeat for each partition on Disk# until they are all mirrored.

NOTE: The drive to be used as the mirror needs to have unallocated space the same size, or larger, as the source disk so you may have to delete partitions on it. Rt click on them and select delete.

I have not found windows mirror to be very reliable, unlike chipset raid or even a hardware raid card.
If you notice you're drive acting odd or performing very slowly, run diskmgmt.msc again and see if it says 'Resyncing' in any of the partitions. If it does, then turn off sleep/hybernate, leave it running, and walk away for a few hours and check on it again later.

 

[doodah_man]

You can't do an Intel chipset mirror; the H55 chipset does not support raid.
You'll have to mirror C: using Windows.

For the instructions, I'll call the disk that C: is on =Disk# and the other drive =mirror

Click start & type: diskmgmt.msc
Rt click on it (in the search results) and select 'Run as Admin'
- this shows the volume information in the top part of the window and the drives in the lower with disk #'s on the left and their partitions to the right. We will be using the lower section.

Rt click on Disk# (on the left side) and select Convert to Dynamic. (ex: Rt click on Disk 0)
Repeat for the mirror disk. (ex: Rt click on Disk 1)
Now Rt click on the first partition to the right of Disk# and select 'Add Mirror' which will then allow you to select your other drive as the mirror.
Repeat for each partition on Disk# until they are all mirrored.

NOTE: The drive to be used as the mirror needs to have unallocated space the same size, or larger, as the source disk so you may have to delete partitions on it. Rt click on them and select delete.

I have not found windows mirror to be very reliable, unlike chipset raid or even a hardware raid card.
If you notice you're drive acting odd or performing very slowly, run diskmgmt.msc again and see if it says 'Resyncing' in any of the partitions. If it does, then turn off sleep/hybernate, leave it running, and walk away for a few hours and check on it again later.

Thank you. An actual answer to my question. Unfortunately, based on what I see when I follow your instructions, I'm scared to follow through.

 

[USAFRet]

I was just trying to ward off the oft mistaken concept of RAID 1 as data protection.

And as above, RAID 1 within Windows is not the most stable.

 

[popatim]

You might want to use the other drive as a repository for C: drive backups or backups/images of the whole disk.
I use Macrium Reflect Free to image my drives to a dedicated drive. Restoring a drive is a breeze and you can even use Macrium to create a Rescue USB to restore your boot drive for when it goes down.

If you already have a backup solution in place, or don't care, then just use the other drive as D: and install your games to that. They will run a bit faster since they wont be fighting with other programs/windows for access to the disk.

 

[doodah_man]

By the way, I do have both the following installed on my system: JW MICRON HW Raid manager and Samsung Data Migration since both SSDs are Samsung if this makes any difference.

 

[USAFRet]

The Samsung DM has nothing to do with RAID.

The Micron would seem to be for their 4 or 8 bay external RAID devices?
"JMicron HW RAID Manager is a free program that allows you to configure the 4 and 8 Bay Raid. "

JMicron HW RAID Manager. Get the software safe and easy.

Free program that allows you to configure the 4 and 8 Bay Raid.

jmicron-hw-raid-manager.software.informer.com