Backup Raid Setup

Hello Everyone,
Happy New Year
I am looking for a Backup device for my Main Editing Suite, at the moment I am runing a Areca 1680ix 16 port with internal drives. I am looking for an exernal setup so I can back up my main editing suite and take away for security.
options:
1: use external out from current Areca to a  enclosue using multilane cable, (is this possible even though i have 16 ports used already)
2: buy a new raid card with 2x external ports to control 8 bay enclosure or more
anyother ideas,
anyone had experience with Sonnet Fusion D800Raid it uses a Atto Raid Card, this model is a few years old now. not sure if suitable, as I have a freind who no longer requires one as he has upgraded and offered it to me.
thanks
Baz

Baz,
Have you considered a QNAP or Thecus NAS over iSCSI? There are models with 7 or 8 internal disks and for backup they are quite suitable.
Have a look at: http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/cat/685/nas-behuizingen.html#filter:ZY5LC8IwEIT_y5xzaPpQ2h9 Q8CAIehMPNVlhIX2wiQ8o_e8mak-eltlvZpgZV-kGu7MezRl1WUFB643GReHG4sNB2NCJe9p3LzTD3bk_wMMKRrEkL ZOzaPBgevpYNyXjx5QpeDPKt6paxUrIkQlkjxOZ35xCx3heFWmMj--WXSCJaEZZZ-n0KYxttPWpEzrHsixv
Sorry it is only in Dutch, but at least you have current prices.
This one appeals to me: http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/288692/qnap-turbo-station-ts-1079-pro.html#tab:info

Similar Messages

  • Recommendations on drive/backup/RAID setup..

    Hey there folks--
    I've got a Mac Pro with OSX 10.6 on one main 500GB drive, which includes about 200GB of data on it (videos, MP3's, etc) in addition to OSX. Everything is being backed up to another 500GB drive via Time Machine. The main drive is running out of space, so I just ordered a 1TB Western Digital Blue drive (WD10EALS is the exact model). It's supposed to be a pretty fast drive--certainly faster than my existing two 500GB drives. Now, I have a dilemma I'm hoping folks can solve.
    I also have a Macbook Pro with about 100GB of data on it, and I want to back that up with Time Machine as well (never have before). So I'm trying to decide among a few scenarios:
    1. Move OSX 10.6 and my 200GB of data to the 1TB drive, and then use the two 500GB drives as the Time Machine target in a RAID configuration of some sort, maybe even as JBOD if need be.
    2. Leave my main OSX 10.6 500GB drive alone, and just move my 200GB of data off of it onto the second 500GB drive (which then of course would no longer be a Time Machine target drive). Then use the new 1TB drive as the Time Machine target.
    3. Buy a USB hard drive enclosure, insert the 1TB drive into it, and then hook that up to my ASUS RT-16N router that's arriving shortly and has two USB ports for storage devices. And use it as the Time Machine target for everything on my network.
    4. Buy a NAS like a DNS-323, and put the two 500GB drives in it, connect THAT to the router, and use that as the Time Machine target. I'd rather not do this, because it would involve spending more money, but if this is deemed the best/fastest/most elegant solution, I'd consider it.
    So those are the four choices I can see. I'm trying to find the simplest, least hassle solution that offers the best backups speed, while also maintaining as high a speed as possible for my main workhorse OSX drive (I like having my OS be on the fastest hard drive if possible, for performance reasons--although I've heard it's not such a great idea to have your OS on a 1TB drive?)
    Can anyone recommend the best setup?
    Thanks
    Dave

    I would go with option 2 personally. It's a good idea to have the time machine drive larger than the source, or at least I think that's what The Hatter said a while ago!! No doubt he'll be along soon.
    If the 500GB drive is the only place you will have your data then you need to think again. Maybe add it into the time machine backup (which would actually just involve not excluding it I think). Many people often forget the need to backup external drives and only focus on boot drives, which is such a shame.
    The MBP backup would also fit on the 1TB drive, but at that stage your backup drive is actually smaller than all the sources, not a great idea.
    I would love to hear more on the fact about not having the OS on a 1 TB drive...

  • Request for Advice re RAID Setup  / Backup Options

    I would be grateful for any comments on my RAID setup, or suggestions for improvement:
    I have four LaCie Firewire drives. Each is 250 GB. Two are the Porsche design, and the other two are the ones designed to stack under (and resemble) the mac Mini. I'd like to not buy any additional storage hardware at this time.
    I have two main needs for storage -- (1) my iTunes library, which is mostly Apple Lossless, and (2) backup of my PowerBook. These two needs presently take up about 300 GB.
    Currently, all four hard drives are connected to a mac Mini. Both of the two pairs of hard drives is configured through OS X Disk Utility as RAID 0. Consequently, two fire wire drives of roughly 500 GB each show up on the mini's desktop. I mainly use the mini as a jukebox -- the video out connects to my TV, and the audio out connects to my receiver (through a buggy as he.ll M-Audio Transit, but that's another story). So the iTunes library for the mini lives on one of the RAID drives.
    The other RAID drive serves as a backup. Using Silverkeeper, I incrementally backup the music library. Silverkeeper also backs up my PowerBook, when it is on the network.
    Does this sound like the best way to go, if you accept that I don't want to get into a hardware RAID solution for now? Does OS X allow for software RAID 0+1? In other words, can I RAID the two pairs of drives independently as they are now, and then have them mirror each other? I'm not really worried about accidental file deletions and the like -- my biggest concern is one of these hard drives failing. If RAID 0+1 is available through software, is that advisable? Are there other alternatives I should be thinking about?
    Any comments on this will be very helpful. Thanks in advance for your time.
    PJP
    PowerBook G4 15 | Mac mini G4 | 60 GB video iPod Mac OS X (10.4.6)
    PowerBook G4 15 | Mac mini G4 | 60 GB video iPod Mac OS X (10.4.4)

    Hi, PJP.
    My take on RAID: Unless you're running a high-availability transaction server, IMO RAID is overkill for the home or SOHO (Small Office / Home Office) user. It's "cool" and has a certain amount of "geek" cachet, but as far as being practical for the average user, it adds an unnecessary level of complexity.
    You may have specific reasons why you've decided to implement RAID, but from what you've described as what you're doing with your Macs, I don't really see the need for it.
    Like you, I run backups to FireWire drives of all our Macs. I maintain at two current backups for each system, one backup per FireWire drive. This gives me the same kind of drive-failure protection for my backups without having to go the RAID route.
    For advice on the backup and recovery solution I employ, see my "Backup and Recovery" FAQ.
    Good luck!
    Dr. Smoke
    Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
    Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
    I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

  • Reformatting external drive to Mac OS Extended but maintaining RAID setup

    Hi again,
    I am considering taking the leap finance-wise and purchasing [this external drive|http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WDH2Q20000N-Studio-Interface/dp/B00 16P7H3Q/ref=cmcr_pr_producttop]. It comes pre-formatted to HFS+ or something, so I guess I will need to reformat it to Mac OS Extended to use it with FCE.
    So here are the questions:
    *1. Would it make more sense to use it in RAID 0 mode for faster speed, or RAID 1 mode to keep a safer backup of my files?*
    *2. Would reformatting it to Mac OS Extended for use with FCE still allow it to use normal RAID abilities?*
    I realize this is not the right forum for posting this, but I thought someone here might be knowledgable about backup in general and how to best format an external drive for use with FCE, while maintaining the ability to have a "mirrored" RAID setup. Any thoughts?
    Thanks in advance,
    Sasha
    Message was edited by: skalicki`

    So just one more question because I'm pretty new to this whole RAID thing:
    Say I formatted the drive to RAID 1 so in theory I have 1TB of space that is "mirrored" over to the other external drive.
    *When I ingest my footage, will copies be stored to both drives, so if one fails, I will still have my media?*
    I gathered this was the idea but didn't know how it works with FCE.

  • Raid Setup Guide 865/875 LSR/FIS2R Rev 1.04

    On-Board Raid Setup MSI 865PE/875P
    Revision History
    Revision 1.0 (January 2004)
    -   Original Raid Article
    Revision 1.01 (February 2004)
    -   Reformatted text and fixed spelling/grammar
    Revision 1.02 (October 2004)
    -   Added warnings to temporarily disconnect ALL drives including Zip drives during formatting Raid drives for WinXP.
    Revision 1.03 (October 2005)
    -   Reformatted text and added links to download Promise/Intel Raid floppies if user is missing them.
    Revision1.04 (February 2006)
    -   Minor BB reformatting
    Intro
    Equipment List For Tests
    Description of Tests
    Pre-Raid Setup Bios Tweaks
    Raid Setup On Promise Controller
    Raid Setup On Intel Controller
    --->Intel- Migrating from single SATA to Full Raid Array
    Intro
    This guide is intended to help people configure their Bios and setup Windows for Raid using the Intel ICH5R controller  and the Promise FastTrak 378 controller. Although all the tests were done using Raid-0 the methods described should be virtually identical to setting up Raid-1 provided the user is aware of the fundamental differences between the two. It should be useful for anyone with an MSI 865PE/875P chipset on motherboards with LSR and FIS2R suffixes. Before continuing, please read the FAQ thread posted by Maesus and the Raid manual(s) that came with your motherboard. There's also some good info regarding Raid Here and Here and Here
    Keep in mind this guide is intended as a reference to help you. It is not a manual. I do not work for MSI and my equipment and time are limited. You will have different equipment and different versions of software.
    All the data below is based on tests that I ran and I tried to avoid using any theory that I did not test. If you feel I’ve missed something obvious or if you have something you feel should be added to make this guide clearer or simpler, please PM me with your thoughts. If you have a specific problem that this guide does not help you with, post a detailed thread in the forum on the main page.
    Equipment List For Tests
    MSI 875P FIS2R Motherboard
    Bios 1.8
    Enermax EG365P-VE (350w)  PSU
    P4 2.6c CPU
    Kingston KHX-3200A2 2x512MB Memory
    Radeon 9800Pro AIW Video Card
    WD 400JB 40GB/8MB cache IDE Hdd
    2-Seagate 80GB 7200.7 SATA Hdd's
    Liteon 52x32x52 CDRW
    Floppy Drive
    Tests
    Generally, tests were as follows:
    Configure 2 SATA on Promise controller(serial3&4) as Raid0 and install WindowsXP Home SP1a on Raid
    Configure 2 SATA on Promise controller(serial3&4) as Raid0 and add Raid to an existing WindowsXP installation on IDE drive(IDE1)
    Configure 2 SATA on Intel Raid controller(serial1&2) as Raid0 and install WindowsXP Home SP1a on Raid
    Configure 2 SATA on Intel Raid controller(serial1&2) as Raid0 and add Raid to an existing WindowsXP installation on IDE drive(IDE1)
    Configure 1 SATA on Intel Raid controller(serial1) and install WindowsXP Home SP1a on it. Then add 2nd SATA on Intel Raid controller(serial2) and migrate to Raid0 using Intel Application Accelerator-Raid edition.
    IDE drive used in these tests was pre-installed with a fresh copy of WinXP Home SP1a using default settings and the following drivers all from MSI setup CD and Raid Floppy Disks that came with motherboard:
    Intel INF files - version 1002
    Gigabit Lan drivers - 7.0.37.0
    SoundMax drivers - 5.12.1.3538
    Catalyst 3.7 & Multimedia Center drivers from standard ATI CD came with video card.
    Pre-Raid BIOS Tweaks
    Before I continue, I'd like to point out a few changes from the defaults that I alway make to Bios before I attempt a WinXP install or hardware change. I can't guarantee that they all apply to you but none should make things worse. If anything differs from a setting that you feel is fixing another problem you're having, by all means leave at your prefferred setting. Anything related to performance and overclocking can be raised again AFTER the Raid is all setup and everything is running smoothly.
    Standard Cmos Features
    The only thing I change here is to enable "32bit transfer mode" whenever I connect new devices to the Intel IDE controller.
    Note: Devices attached to the Promise controller and the Intel Raid(when it is enabled) will NOT appear in the standard Cmos page
    Advanced Bios Features
    Everything on defaults is usually fine except I always change the following for WinXP:
    APIC ACPI SCI IRQ - Enabled
    Boot Device select is also on this page and you'll be changing it after all the hardware is setup; more later.
    Advanced Cipset Features
    Confirm that the memory timing "by SPD" is enabled
    PNP/PCI Configurations
    Clear NVRam option I always set to "YES" before the first boot after making hardware changes. I'm not sure how important this is but I understand that's what you're supposed to do. I believe it forces the motherboard to detect hardware changes. It reverts to "NO" after the reboot.
    PCI/IDE Busmaster set to "enabled" to speed things up outside of Windows.
    Integrated Peripherals (Before Raid for most flexibilty)
    Onboard Promise IDE - Disabled if you have nothing attached to IDE3 and Serial 3&4
    ON-Chip IDE Configuration:
    Native Mode (Supported by WinXP- Allows all devices connected to IDE 1&2 and Serial 1&2 to be detected)
    SATA Only or PATA Only (select the one that you boot XP with)
    Keep SATA Active - Yes (if option available)
    Keep PATA Active - Yes (if option available)
    PATA Channel selection - Both (if option available)
    Configure SATA as Raid - No (if option available)
    Leave other settings here at default
    Note: Some older Bios versions may appear different than above
    Frequency/Voltage Control
    Dynamic Overclocking - Disabled
    Performance Mode - Slow
    Dram Frequency - Auto
    Adjust CPU Bus - 201 (for "c" type cpu's)
    DDR Voltage - 2.65 (minimum for Dual-Channel Mem stability)
    AGP Voltage - 1.55
    Note: some features above may not appear with your Bios
    Note: performance & overclocking features can be increased again AFTER the Raid array has been setup and is stable with Windows.
    Raid On Promise Controller
       This procedure should work for anyone adding a Raid array to a system already having XP installed on another drive on the Intel controller or intending to install Windows XP on the new Raid array.
    Note: IDE 3 and Serial 3&4 connectors are controlled by the Promise controller.
    Note: It is possible to setup Raid arrays using 2 IDE drives on IDE3 or even 2 SATA & 2 IDE drives. I only tested 2 SATA drives on Serial 3&4 connectors.
    Note: It is possible to setup Raid 0+1 using 2 IDE drives on IDE3 and 2 SATA drives on Serial 3&4. See HERE for a related thread.
    Note: It is possible to setup SATA or IDE drives on the Promise controller as separate drives NOT using Raid but I did not test this. See your manual.
    - Attach the SATA drives to Serial 3&4 connectors and ensure that both power and data cables are securely connected. Most SATA drives do NOT need any changes to default jumper positions if any(check Hdd installation instructions).
    - Boot into Bios
    Integrated Peripherals:
    Set Onboard Promise IDE  - As Raid
    - Save and reboot computer
    - Use control-F keys during the boot(when prompted-goes by quickly) to enter the Promise Raid Bios.
    Note: You will only be able to enter the promise Bios if you have set the Promise controller to "As Raid" AND there are devices connected and detected by the Promise Bios.
    - Use the menus to configure the Raid for your preferences.
    Note: I can't say which settings you should use for creating the Raid. It depends on many things. Do some research.
    - After saving the Raid array, reboot to Bios.(you should see the configured array for a second or two during the post and it should be "functional")
    - In Advanced bios Features>>Boot Device Select:
    Set the order you prefer to boot from
    - If you already have XP installed on another drive and are just adding the Raid for an extra drive, Ensure that the list is still appropriate and includes your XP drive.
    - If you will be installing XP on the new Raid, make sure the new Raid array is in the boot list and any other hard drives are NOT.
    Note: Typically, I put the disk with XP first and use F11 key during post to boot from another device. This is not required though.
    - Save bios
    Important!: If you are installing XP on the new Raid array, you should now shutdown and either disconnect or disable any other drives connected until AFTER XP is installed. This includes USB/Zip drives.(See "Bugs" below).
    If Installing XP On The New Raid Array(others skip to below):
    - Boot from the Windows XP Setup CD and use F6 key when prompted(at the beginning).
    - Follow prompts to load the WinXP Promise FastTrack 376/378 Controller from the floppy that came with motherboard(If Required Download Floppy Here). There are a number of different choices on the floppy. PICK THE RIGHT ONE.
    Note: if using Win2K with the floppy, you can scroll down to get more driver options on this screen. It's not readily apparent on the screen.
    - Continue setup and Windows should now show you the new Raid array as a single drive available to install to. If it shows other drives that you have connected, re-read the "important" note above and the related section on "Bugs" below.
    - When XP setup makes its first re-boot, make sure the floppy has been removed or depending on your settings it may give you a scary moment. Yes I did this(tries to boot from floppy).
    - After XP is up and running, you can re-connect/re-enable any drives you disconnected earlier. If they have been formatted, they should show up immediately and be assigned letters after your CD/DVD drives.
    - You can also install the Promise Array Manager software(from MSI CD utilities tab or download) which adds some array management settings.
    If XP Already Installed On Another Drive(and you're just adding the Raid as an extra storage disk):
    - Boot into WindowsXP.
    - As Windows starts, it should detect a new Raid device and offer to install drivers.   
    - Select Cancel. It will tell you that it was unable to install new device. If you want you can confirm the new device is present by checking Windows device Manager. It should show the new device with a yellow exclamation mark beside it since the drivers aren't installed yet.
    - Download the appropriate drivers or use the MSI CD that came with motherboard.
    Note: The MSI CD detects devices connected and shows available drivers/utilities depending on what it sees. You might not have seen the Promise drivers when using the CD before but now that you have a Raid array connected to it, the drivers will be availble from the MSI setup CD.
    - Install the drivers and re-boot
    - Device Manager should now show the Raid properly identified by XP.
    - If the Raid array was not previously formatted, you can now use Windows Disk Manager (Start > Run and type diskmgmt.msc) to Initialize and then format the Raid array.
    - The Raid array should now show in Windows Explorer with it's own drive letter.
    Bugs/Surprises
    - Trying to install WinXP on the Promise Raid while my IDE drive was connected to the Intel IDE connector resulted in Windows installing boot files to the IDE drive and the rest on the Raid drives. This was especially bad since I had another installation of XP on the IDE drive which was overwritten. The work-around was to disable the IDE drive until AFTER XP was setup on the Raid array.
    Update: There have been a few posts on the forum since I wrote this guide where people installing XP have had problems similar to the one above with USB/Zip drives connected so i am adding them to the list of drives to disconnect while installing XP.
    - When setting "Boot Device Select", if I selected "NO" for "boot from other devices", the motherboard would ignore my selection and still boot from other devices if the ones in the list were unusable.
    - Be gentle with SATA connectors on the motherboard. They can stand firm downward pressure but not a lot of side-to-side pressure.
    Raid On Intel Controller
    This procedure should work for anyone adding 2 SATA hard drives for a Raid array on a system already having XP installed on another drive or intending to install XP on the new Raid array.
    Note: IDE 1&2 and Serial 1&2 connectors are controlled by the Intel ICH5R controller. Only Serial 1&2 can be configured for Raid arrays.
    You can also install a single SATA drive and configure the system for Raid BEFORE installing XP on this drive if you intend to add another SATA drive later to form a Raid array. This method was also tested. I will refer to this for the rest of the thread as the Raid-Ready Method.
    Note: If you install WinXP on a single SATA drive without enabling Raid and loading Raid drivers, you will NOT be able to migrate the XP disk to a Raid array at a later date. Reinstalling XP would be required.
    Note: There is no performance advantage to having a single drive with Raid enabled. But doing so makes the disk Raid-ready and XP reinstall unnecessary.
    - Attach the SATA drive(s) to Serial 1&2 connectors and ensure that both power and data cables are securely connected. Most SATA drives do NOT need any changes to default jumper positions if any(check Hdd installation instructions).
    - Boot into Bios
    - In "Integrated Peripherals>>On-Chip IDE Configuration" set:
    Native Mode (Supported by WinXP- Allows all devices connected to IDE 1&2 and Serial 1&2 to be detected)
    SATA Only (Even if you will be booting XP from a PATA drive)
    Keep PATA Active - Yes
    PATA Channel selection - Both
    Configure SATA as Raid - Yes
    Leave other settings here at default
    Note: Some older Bios versions may appear different than above.
    - Save Bios and reboot computer
    - Use control-I keys during post(when prompted-goes by quickly) to enter the Intel Raid Bios Utility.
    Note: If you are using the single SATA Raid-Ready Method, you can skip the steps involving the Intel Raid utility. Go to the step for setting Boot device select in main Bios.
    Note: You will only be able to enter the Intel Raid Bios if you have set the "Configure SATA as Raid" option to "YES"  AND there are devices connected and detected by the Intel Raid Bios.
    - Use the menus to configure the Raid for your preferences.
    Note: I can't say which settings you should use for creating the Raid. It depends on many things. The Intel utility does describe the different options well though.
    - After saving the Raid array, reboot to Bios.(you should see the configured array for a second or two during the post and it should be "functional")
    - In Advanced bios Features>>Boot Device Select:
    Set the order you prefer to boot from;
    If you already have XP installed on another drive and are just adding the Raid for an extra drive, Ensure that the list is still appropriate and includes your XP drive.
    If you will be installing XP on the new Raid or using Raid-Ready Method, make sure the new Raid array or raid-ready drive is in the boot list and any other hard drives are NOT.
    Note: Typically, I put the disk with XP first and use F11 key during post to boot from another device. This is not required though.
    - Save bios
    Important!: If you are installing XP on the new Raid array or using the Raid-Ready Method, you should now shutdown and either disconnect or disable any other hard drives connected until AFTER XP is installed. This includes Zip/USB drives. (See "Bugs" below).
    If Installing XP On The New Raid Array Or Using Raid-Ready Method(others skip to below):
    - Boot from the Windows XP Setup CD and use F6 key when prompted(at the beginning).
    - Follow prompts to load the IAA Raid Driver for ICH5R (If Required Download Floppy Here) from the floppy that came with motherboard.  I only had 1 driver to choose from on my floppy but if you have more, CHOOSE THE RIGHT ONE!
    - Continue and Windows Setup should now show you the new Raid array or Raid Ready drive as a single drive available to install to. If it shows other drives that you have connected, re-read the "important" note above and the related section on "Bugs" below.
    - When XP setup makes its first re-boot, make sure the floppy has been removed or depending on your settings it may give you a scary moment. Yes I did this(tries to boot from floppy).
    - After XP is up and running and INF files and other important drivers installed, you can re-connect/re-enable any hard drives you disconnected earlier. If they have been formatted, they should show up immediately and be assigned letters after your CD/DVD drives.
    - You can also install the Intel IAA-Raid Program(from MSI CD utilities tab or download) which gives some info and adds the array management settings(Not many. Just the enable/disable cache setting and the migrate to raid option).
    If XP Already Installed On Another Drive(and you're just adding the Raid as an extra storage disk):
    - Boot into WindowsXP.
    - As Windows starts, it should detect a new Raid device and offer to install drivers. Select Cancel. It will tell you that it was unable to install new device. If you want you can confirm the new device is present by checking Windows device Manager. It should show the new device with a yellow exclamation mark beside it since the drivers aren't installed yet.
    - Download the appropriate drivers or use the MSI CD that came with motherboard.
    Note: The MSI CD detects devices connected and shows available drivers/utilities depending on what it sees. You might not have seen the IAA Raid drivers when using the CD before but now that you have a Raid array connected to it, the drivers will be availble from the MSI setup CD.
    - Install the drivers and re-boot
    Note: If the IAA Raid program detects that the Raid controller is not enabled or no device is present, it will NOT allow you to install the drivers/utility.
    - Using Windows Device Manager should now show the Raid device properly with no problems.
    - If the Raid array has not been formatted, you can now use Windows Disk Manager (Start > Run and type diskmgmt.msc) to Initialize and then format the Raid array.
    - The new drive should now appear in Windows Explorer with it's own drive letter.
    Bugs/Surprises
    - Trying to install WinXP on the Promise Raid while my IDE drive was connected to the Intel IDE connector resulted in Windows installing boot files to the IDE drive and the rest on the Raid drives. This was especially bad since I had another installation of XP on the IDE drive which was overwritten. The work-around was to disable the IDE drive until AFTER XP was setup on the Raid array. It is safe to assume this can occur with the Intel controller as well since I believe the problem occurs because of how WinXP setup addresses the hard drives.
    Update: There have been a few posts on the forum since I wrote this guide where people installing XP have had problems similar to the one above with USB/Zip drives connected so i am adding them to the list of drives to disconnect while installing XP.
    - Be gentle with SATA connectors on the motherboard. They can stand firm downward pressure but not a lot of side-to-side pressure.
    Migrating XP System Disk To Raid On Raid-Ready System
    This part describes how to use the Intel Application Accelerator-Raid edition to migrate an existing WinXP system disk (1-SATA) to a 2-SATA Raid array.
    This procedure is actually very well documented in the last part of the Intel SATA Raid manual that ships with the motherboard but I thought I’d add it to make this thread more complete.
    Please note that to use this feature of the Intel raid software the disk you are migrating FROM must have been made Raid-Ready as described above. Basically, this means that Raid should have been enabled in the Bios and the drivers installed from floppy during the WinXP install.
    Note: I tested this by migrating to a Raid0 array but Raid1 should work also if the latest Bios and version of Intel-Raid application used.
    - Open the Intel Application Accelerator Raid utility.
    - With the “Raid” tab window open, right-click on “Raid volume” and select “Create from Existing Disk” as seen below.
    - Follow the next several steps to choose the type of Raid array and the strip size.
    Note: 64kb strip size is good for general purpose and 128kb best for most desktops and work stations according to Intel. Anything smaller is for specialized purposes. You should research this a little because you can’t change it after easily.
    - After configuring the array for your preferences, you will face a couple of warnings telling you that “All data will be deleted from the Raid-controlled drive(s) and is unrecoverable” and ask if you want to continue. Obviously all data(if any) on the new drive you’re adding will be lost but the OS and other data on the disk you’re migrating FROM will be striped to the new array and will remain intact.
    Note: Any complex disk procedure such as this carries the risk of losing data. A backup of the disk is important BEFORE beginning the migration process. Don't say I didn't warn you.
    - The migration process can take a long time. You should see the window below during the operation.
    Note: With just a default WinXP installation, migrating to 2-80Gb drives took about an hour for me.
    - After the migration is complete, you will be prompted to re-boot to complete the process.
    - During the reboot, as the Intel Bios comes up for a couple of seconds(don’t blink) you will see the 2 drives configured as an array and they will be listed as “functional”.
    - After the reboot, you should have a fully functional Raid array with 2 SATA drives and all data from the single drive will have been striped or mirrored into the second one. Check Windows Disk manager(Start > Run and type diskmgmt.msc) to see the status of the new drive. See bugs/surprises below.
    Bugs/Surprises
    The only problem I had with this test came in the form of a small surprise after everything was completed and the computer had rebooted. Although the Intel Application Accelerator showed everything functioning normally, Windows explorer showed my Raid drive as 74Gb in size instead of the 150Gb or so that I expected. After checking Windows disk Manager (Start > Run and type diskmgmt.msc), I found that the missing GB’s were in fact there but were unformatted. Unfortunately, Disk Manager does not seem to allow merging or extending partitions so I ended up using Partition Magic 8 to format the empty space and merge it with the rest of the partition. This seemed to work fine and I ended up with a single 150Gb drive showing up in Windows Explorer. I also briefly tested the performance to confirm that it was operating as a Raid array.
    I know there is a utility for Win2K called DiskPart.exe that is run from command console to extend NTFS partitions but if anyone knows of an easier way or a FREE utility that will format/merge NTFS partitions that they have confirmed works, please PM me so that I can include a reference to it here.
    All the data above is based on tests that I ran and I tried to avoid using any theory that I did not test. If you feel I’ve missed something obvious or if you have something you feel should be added to make this guide clearer or simpler, please PM me with your thoughts. If you have a specific problem that this guide does not help you with, post a detailed thread in the forum on the main page.
    Vango44

    Great work vango44!
    Here are some RAID performance statistics I gathered while testing RAID on my system.  The testing software was Winbench 99.  The hard drives tested were new Seagate ST380013AS drives, formatted NTFS.  Winbench was running on a third drive that is not included in the tests and should not affect the results.
    The drives were reformatted between tests and chkdsk'ed to try and keep things "apples to apples".
    No hardware or software changes other than the RAID setup/connections were made between tests.
    Higher numbers mean better performance.
    I also ran the same tests on the newish WD Raptor 10K drives:
    I couldn't stand all the noise   the Raptors made, so I returned them.
    On my motherboard:
    SATA 1 & 2 = Intel RAID controller
    SATA 3 & 4 = Promise RAID controller
    If the test title does not include "RAID", then it was a single drive test.
    Unfortunately, I don't have a spreadsheet version of the above stats.  Otherwise I'd create nice bar charts for us and it's would be easier to deduce performance.
    Perhaps some kind reader will OCR the pictures, put them into Excel, and make some nice bar charts for us?
    Hope the info helps.

  • Multiple RAID setups in one Xserve?

    Hi hope you can help me, we are a small architecture practice in the market for a new server and we are considering an Xserve and Xserve RAID system. I would quite like to set up the Xserve unit to use two of the drives in RAID 1 to mirror the operating system. My question is it possible and/or wise to have multiple RAID sets in the Xserve RAID unit? For example using four of the bays for 4x500Gb in RAID 1 (1Tb storage) for projects, and then using another 2 bays for 2x250Gb in RAID 1 as well for say Mail, maybe even another 2 bays for holding user home accounts. I understand that with share points this isn't strictly necessary but it seems to make sense to keep functions separate across hard drives for quick replacements. Or is this a lot to ask of a single RAID controller?
    Also how easy is to add storage to an existing RAID set-up without destroying the data?; say we wanted to increase the 1Tb project storage to 2Tb easily.
    Thanks for your help in advance.
      Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    Andrew,
    I think you are over complicating you setup.
    If you do multiple RAID sets the you are really anti-optimiziung. If you asked "How can I get the least performance and lowest capacity out of a RAID?" then I would suggest three mirrored disks w/ spare per controller.
    You would have far better performance and capacity if you were to put two drives in the Xserve to mirror, then set up your RAID as RAID 5 across 6 disks with 1 spare (default config).
    With Disk Utility you can build multiple file systems on the RAID, so you could slice it up, but again that could be wasting space.
    When you get the RAID setup as one file system do not share the root. Set up sub dirs to share:
    /Volumes/Raid1 --your RAID root, aka mount point.
    /Volumes/Raid1/Mail -- mail
    /Volumes/Raid1/Users -- Home dirs
    /Volumes/Raid1/Projects -- your production storage
    /Volumes/Raid1/Backup -- Save disk images of your server and workstations here.
    And yes, changing the size of a file system means wiping it out and restoring from backup.
    Also consider the 750GB drives, it's a lot more storage for not that much more money.
    Reese

  • What RAID setups work for each setup?

    Can anyone point me to a source that can give me detailed information about what RAID setups are best for each situation. Our current situation is that we have:
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    We are thinking about using one whole RAID (2x LUN) for Media, and 1 LUN of the other RAID for metadata, and then the second LUN of the second RAID for switchable media (backup on HD's). So what RAID is best for media and what is best for metadata? Is it possible to set a whole RAID with two LUNs as RAID 0 or would it need to be seperate?
    If someone has some info about what RAID setups work best I would be happy to hear about it!
    We will be connecting 3x FCP machines through fiber, but other workstations will be connected through a deticated ethernet switch with 1Gb connection to the Xsan but 100Mb connection to the Switch.
    Best regards,
    Orvar Halldorsson
    Sagafilm

    You can also try the Xsan Tuning Guide. It recommends that the Meta info be striped as raid 1. When you are in RAID admin and click on create array it will tell you which raids are good for speed and which ones are good for protection. Here is the link as well
    http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Xsan1.1TuningGuide.pdf
    There is also an app you can download to test the bandwidth of the volumes.

  • Advice RAID Setup MacPro 2009

    Hi
    I'm after advice on 3 things regarding the setup of my 2009 Mac Pro -
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    2/ I have decided to invest in a PCIe SSD card to be my boot disc (I had such a massive boost in speed when I installed a new SSD in my 2008 Mac Book Pro and a PCIe version could be even faster). This will free up one of the 4 1TB hard drives. So I was wondering (taking into account that to be employment ready I want to run AVID/FCX & PremPro) what should my RAID setup be. I have always gone with RAID 0 for speed (as long as it's properly backed up) but I'm open to suggestions.
    1TB Scratch Disc + 3TB RAID 0 Data Disc
    2TB RAID 0 Scratch Disc + 2TB RAID 0 Data Disc
    3TB RAID 0 Scratch Disc + 1TB Data Disc [Although I already have just over 1TB of data, so maybe not this option]
    3/ I have heard some people talk about using partitioning as a way to ensuring that the fastest part of the disc is utilised. Is there any truth to this? And if so any advice?
    Thanks folks!
    Mac Pro Details [Early 2009]
    2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
    32 GB 1066 MHz DDR3
    ATI Radeon HD a870 512 MB [Slot 1]
    Apple 2 Port 4Gbps Fibre Channel Card [Slot 2] (which I'm thinking of getting rid of for the SSD)
    2 x USB 3.0 + 2 x eSata inputs [Slot3] (on order from OWC)
    Apple RAID Card [Slot 4] (dead battery, I would be better off with a Black Magic card maybe)
    4 x 1TB 7200rpm Hard Discs being 1 x WDC WD10EALX-009BA0 (my current boot disc) + 3 x WDC WD1001FALS-41K1B0 (currently in RAID 0, no separate scratch disc)
    I have 3 x one hourly archival backups (via Carbon Copy Cloner) of each Disc with one of them stored off site and rotated once a month. That's 6 backups all together at the moment.
    What I use it for
    Sports photography editing and processing – [Lightroom & Photoshop]
    Video editing – [Like I said to be employment ready I try to use all of the big 3 AVID, FCX & PremPro. Also Motion & After Effects]
    Graphic Design – [Photoshop, Illustrator & Indesign]
    Web Design – [Most of the above plus Dreamweaver & Fireworks]
    Audio – [ProTools]

    "There is a thread dedicated to issues with OWC card."
    Just going by this website seems the issues are with models prior to 2009 i.e. 3.1 models as opposed to 4.1 which it what mine is.
    "and just what to put in 3 "optional" slots."
    Well if I take out both the Fibre Channel Card as well as the Apple RAID that will be my dilemma
    "MacPerformanceGuide maxes out his system with dual OWC PCIe SSDs and RAM but then he needs to and wants/ needs 960GB SSD on each card to create 1.8TB of fast scratch."
    Actually the PCIe SSD I had in mind was the 480GB based on about 40% usage of my current boot disc. Not sure this is large enough or a better option for a scratch disc than a 1TB 7200 or 2x 1TB RAID0?
    Are we saying that PCIe SSD is generally unreliable or just unreliable as a boot disc?
    Steve

  • Xserve RAID setup for mixed platform office

    In our office we have several Macs and Windows machines that regularly read the same files during various tests we run. Unfortunately these files are spread out across various drives on various systems and many of the files are duplicated in many places.
    To make us more efficient as well as provide reliable backup for our critical test files I'm considering an Xserve RAID setup.
    I understand a computer is needed as a controller and an Xserve is typically used for this. Could a Dual 2GHz G5 serve this purpose? It needs OS X Server installed? Does the G5 get a Fibre Channel card in order to connect to the G5 to the RAID and then the rest of the office can connect to the G5 to access the RAID via GigE.
    We are not editing video, I don't see that all the clients need Fibre.
    How about Windows clients, are they able to seemlessly access the RAID just like Macs?

    > I understand a computer is needed as a controller and an Xserve is typically used for this
    Yes, you need a controller, but it doesn't need to be an XServe. Any host will do.
    > Could a Dual 2GHz G5 serve this purpose
    Yes, quite easily. You just need an appropriate fiber channel card in the host that you're attaching the XServe RAID to.
    > It needs OS X Server installed?
    No. You don't even need Mac OS X installed - the XServe RAID is platform agnostic and can be used with Windows, Linux, and other Unix systems.
     > Does the G5 get a Fibre Channel card in order to connect to the G5 to the RAID and then the rest of the office can connect to the G5 to access the RAID via GigE.
    Correct. You'd use some kind of file sharing on the G5 to share the XServe RAID to the network clients. The only caveat is that Mac OS X Client only supports 10 active client connections. If you need more than that you may need Mac OS X Server.
    As for the Windows clients, they can access the RAID volume through the G5, too - you'll just need to enable SMB file sharing on the G5.

  • Hi i have a question, I'm trying to back up  my iPhone to iTunes but it says restore from backup or setup up as new device. if i setup as new device will everything be deleted? if yes then how would i back it up without anything being deleted

    Hi i have a question, I'm trying to back up  my iPhone to iTunes but it says restore from backup or setup up as new device. if i setup as new device will everything be deleted? if yes then how would i back it up without anything being deleted

    Following is a link to instructions on how to backup (either via iTunes and via iCloud) http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766

  • Use iPod Touch 4th gen iTunes backup to setup a new iPad Mini 1 - issues

    Hi all,
    I've just used my Pod Touch 4th gen iTunes backup to setup a new iPad Mini 1 but none of the apps were installed on the iPad mini. Only the default apps are installed.
    None of the photos from the camera roll were installed either, apart from a few 'screen shots' I have taken.
    iPod Touch is iOS 6.1.6 and the iPad mini is 8.1
    There was a warning advising that some of the apps in the iPod backup might not be compatible with the iPad.
    If it makes a difference, I'm using one Apple ID for the App store and another one for iCloud. When I was prompted for the Apple ID during setup on the Mini, I entered the iCloud ID.
    Interestingly, when I went into the App store on the Mini it showed the ID I use for that rather than the iCloud one, which seemed good.
    Is this what I should expect to happen in this situation or am I doing something wrong ?
    Many thanks. Mark

    I've managed to get the apps loaded without having to do it manualy !! :-)
    It was a case of RTFM - I forgot to do a 'Sync' after restoring the 4G's iTunes backup into the iPad.
    Transfer content from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to a new device - Apple Support
    For some unknown reason, the Camera Roll images and Videos still weren't restored to the new device.
    This is not too much of an issue because I've exported them out of the 4G using the awesome 'Photo Sync' app. Despite it's name it actually does an 'export'and not a sync, which I think makes image management easier on the PC side
    https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/photosync-wireless-photo-video/id415850124?mt=8

  • Udev/dmraid not picking up all partitions of a fake RAID setup! [EDIT]

    Hey all. I've been having a problem with my RAID setup in Arch.  At first Arch wasn't picking up a partition on one of my arrays, (a single large NTFS partition on a 2TB array between two 1TB drives) but after re-creating the RAID array in the Intel Storage Manager I have a different problem. Arch now find the single large partition, but now /dev/mapper isn't populated with the other two partitions on the other array that my operating systems are on (Arch and Windows), when it used to just fine!  The only thing I changed was re-creating the partition table on the other array, so I don't know what's going on.
    Upon trying to boot, GRUB  comes back with the error described on the wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … oot_device
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    EDIT: Changed post and title to reflect new problem after recreating the 2TB array
    Last edited by pad76 (2011-08-11 13:15:36)

    Does anyone know if I can damage my arch install by using mkinitcpio through a Debian live-cd?  I'm going to try and use one to remake my initrd by chrooting using this guide: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … oot_device
    Basically the commands I'm looking to execute would be this:
    # mount /dev/mapper/isw_ArchRaidPartition /mnt/
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    # mount -t sysfs none /mnt/sys
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  • Udev/dmraid not picking up all partitions of a fake RAID setup!

    Hey all. I've been having a problem with my RAID setup in Arch.  At first Arch wasn't picking up a partition on one of my arrays, (a single large NTFS partition on a 2TB array between two 1TB drives) but after re-creating the RAID array in the Intel Storage Manager I have a different problem. Arch now find the single large partition, but now /dev/mapper isn't populated with the other two partitions on the other array that my operating systems are on (Arch and Windows), when it used to just fine!  The only thing I changed was re-creating the partition table on the other array, so I don't know what's going on.
    Upon trying to boot, GRUB  comes back with the error described on the wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … oot_device
    However I can't boot into the fallback image either!  This means that I can't apply the fix as described in the wiki.
    I'm starting to think there is a limitation in Arch where it can only handle a certain number of mapper devices (seems to be 3), or maybe it only detects the partitions on the first detected array? Now that I recreated the partition table on the larger array, it seems like that's the array that's detected first in both a GParted live session and Arch.  But in a live GParted session, /dev/mapper was fully populated with all of my disks and partitions... so why is it that Arch can only find the partitions on one of the RAID arrays?
    If you guys need any additional information just let me know... I really want to get my Arch setup up and working so I don't have to use Windows all that often (only games that don't work well in Wine).

    Please do not crosspost. Follow forum rules.
    https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=124247
    Closing..

  • Unable to create partition after RAID setup failure

    SL - Tried to create RAID 1 with two external 250G drives. The RAID setup failed indicating improper format pair. So....I attempted to re-create the partition on one of the drives with proper settings.
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    Partitioning using WindowsXP (which worked....only for Windows)
    Tried erasing
    Tried to partition with each partition type.
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    Do the following:
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    3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
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    5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
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    Are you trying to create a RAID using partitions on hard drives or using the entire drive?

  • Building an editing raid setup with an areca 1220 (8 port)

    and here's goes yet another "what should i do raid-wise" question:
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    doing a little research i found some articles on what kind of speeds im looking at with it.  its obviously not quite what a shiny new card would give me but im hoping with a faster pc and faster drives (articles are from 2007) it'll give decent performance for what i need.
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    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/RAID-SCALING-CHARTS,1662.html  (raid 5,6)
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    With 8 ports available your choices are somewhat limited, but then your budget for the drives is adequate.
    You did not mention how much storage space you need, so I will assume 6 or 12 TB net space is enough for your purposes.
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