Raid 3 or 5 setup

Okay, we just got our Xserve RAID in today..., planning to hook it up the our G5 Quad as soon as our FC card gets in. The RAID is a 3.5 T (7-drive) model. It will serve image files (Tiff, PSD, JPEG) to three MacPro workstations. Obviously, redundacy is important, as well as the ability to recover quickly in the event of a hardware failure. Backup will be offsite to a tape device. I need advice on what sort of RAID setup would be recomended and what the effective capacity would be once setup. Also, pros and cons of using drives on one side or both sides.
Thanks. I really appreciate the support I am getting off of this forum
MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Go with RAID 5. RAID 3 is useless -- and slower than RAID 5 because the parity drive is a bottleneck.
RAID 5 loses the capacity of one drive for parity, plus there's the whole "hard drive math" thing, so your 3.5 TB RAID will give about 2.7 TB of capacity in a RAID 5 configuration (if you use 7 drives). If you use a hot spare, you'll have about 2.2 TB of capacity.
I think it's easiest to put all 7 drives on one side. If you go across both sides, you'll lose twice the space to parity (1 TB total), and you need an even number of drives (so probably you'd want 8 drives).

Similar Messages

External RAID hot swap setup..

hello everyone! I have the first generation of the G5 - dual 2GHz. since I am doing video editing I would really like to know which RAID hot swap setup you all recommend. there are some that are cheap and some that are very expensive. I am looking for a happy medium where quality is the prime subject.
also, what hard drives do you guys recommend? I hear seagate is really good but of course my friend says they are terrible - go figure. thanks for your help!!

Hi I just found this thread similar to my own post on Bacula:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=11628649#11628649
It sounds to me like Time Machine is a horrible idea in my situation. Time Machine does hourly copies of files that change by timestamp. If we're deploying MySQL (no hot backup stability guarantee) with 5+TB data files, Time Machine will try to copy that 5+TB file every hour if even a single byte is updated. That will rapidly constipate our RAID no matter how many drives we throw at it! Not to mention it doesn't have the tape support we need (that I know of). It just doesn't seem like a feasible option for us but my CIO still isn't sold on Bacula (free).
Does anybody have experience with Bacula (or Time Machine) on XServe in an enterprise-level environment? I just don't see Time Machine working for us.
Thanks!

How do you change the default User in Windows 7 on a non-RAIDed 4 disk setup?

Hi.
I have installed Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit on Darling my new machine, which has a four-disk setup without RAID, like this:
SSD OCZ -OS, Programs (C:)
WD 2002FEAX - Media Projects (D:)
WD 1002FAEX - Pagefile, Media Cache (E:)
WD 1002FAEX - Previews, Exports (F:)
This setup, and because it’s unRAIDed (four separate disks), created the User file in the OS disk, right under the Programs (x86) folder, which at times causes files, which are not programs, to automatically be saved in the User file that's in the Programs disk, when in fact Programs disk is NOT meant for storage.
Further, I cannot save stuff in My Documents because that directory leads the files (that I am saving) to the User folder in the OS disk, forcing me to navigate out of there and into an alternative disk, which is time consuming, more so than if i had a directory leading to D disk.
So, I am wondering, can anyone help me change my directory to establish the default User folder in any folder other than C?
Or, if can someone refer me to Windows 7 tutorials, resourses, that are a tad more than Dummy level.
I have heard that changing around the directory as such can mess with the OS, and though not at Dummy level, I’m quite new to PC and profusely insecure about making changes to Darling at all.
Thanks.

Hi folks.
I would like to update you about what happened regarding my wish to move the User location to another hard disk. Heeding your warning, i did NOT attempt that, but rather, moved the location of the My Documents folder in my Library, from its default place on (SSD) disk C:/ (which is the default location because that's where i installed Windows 7,) to another disk - D:/ called "Media Projects".
Here is how my directory looked before i made the change, my three hard disks were outside the Library directory that's on my SSD (Programs disk):
(I did that by right-clicking the My Documents folder in the left column of a browser window, to access the Location tab.)
What this did is, it put driver D:/ under Documents, which is under Library, see picture, which now enables saving documents quickly, by going from my Library directly to my D drive, however it eliminated the "My Documents" folder/possibility all together from the left-column list of folders in the Windows Explorer browser pane.
I am now trying to do the same with Music, Pictures, and Videos, i.e. to move them to D drive, but am unable to do so because right-clicking those icons in the directory does not produce the Location tab in Properties panel, and nor does right-clicking inside the files themselves.
Similarly, right-clicking Downloads, which i also want to have residing in my D drive, does NOT produce a Location tab in properties pane, though it does seem possible to change the directory manually...see picture.....but am wary....
I am still monitoring my new system, and will see if and how this change effects my system's performance.
Thanks.

Initial RAID 0+1 Setup Question

I have 8 36GB drives which during the OS install, I partition as follows;
c0t0d0s0 / 32GB
all the other slices I leave blank so I only have a / (root) partition on slice 0. I am trying to set up RAID 0+1 on c0t0d0s0 to go accross all 8 drives on slice 0.
But, when I create the RAID on /dev/md/rdsk/d100, I can't mount it as / (root) because it's being used/mounted by c0t0d0s0. So how do I set up the RAID to mount / (root) as 1 RAIDed drive (/dev/md/rdsk/d100)? When I comment out the line with / (root) mounted on /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s0 and try to mount / (root) on /dev/md/rsk/d100, the server does not boot, and doesn't let me vi /etc/vfstab to uncomment that out because it says that it's a read-only file and I have to start all over.
By the way I am running Solaris 2.6 on an E450 server and am running Solstice DiskSuite to manage the RAID.
Oh yeah and I am creating my metadb's on s7 which is partitioned for 25MB on all 8 drives.
What am I doing wrong. Thanks guys.

<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>m-lennon wrote on Fri, 27 January 2006 12:46</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
I am a bit confused about what you are asking here. On a system that does not have a RAID controller ( like an E450 ), you must first have the operating system running before you configure SDS. So a typical set up might be to install the OE on c0t0d0, slice the disk into /, /var and swap and then mirror this to c0t1d0. After that is configured you can creat a software RAID 0 + 1 on the remaining 18 disks.
</td></tr></table>
Ok, I was wondering how that worked because all of the other servers that I set up, the 1st thing you do, even before the OS is to set up the RAID. So the E450 doesn't have a RAID controller because it is connected to the SCSI controller?
So I should probly put / on slice 0, /var on slice 3, /swap on slice 1, and probably /usr on slice 4. I'm pretty sure /usr is going to be the biggest partition (probly make it about 32GB) because the app that I am installing installs to /usr/app. I'm not sure exactly where the data writes to though, I have to look. Wherever the data writes to is where I really need the RAID setup.
So all in all, I should really only be mirroring slice 4, where /usr is going to be. Right?
Thanks for the help man
I'm just trying to set it up the exact same way the other E450 this client has setup. They only have /dev/md/rdsk/d10 mounted as /. So that's what I was trying to do.

Xserve RAID Card: Is setup kept when reinstalling OS?

Hi everyone,
I have a new Xserve with 3x 1 TB and the RAID Card. The default setup is JBOD and of course I'd like to change that by booting from the DVD and setting it up. I know that I can convert JBOD to RAID while keeping the already installed OS. But since I plan to reinstall the OS anyway I was wondering if my chosen RAID setup will be preserved this way?
I believe this is a real Hardware-RAID so this should work, right?
Thanks
Björn

Thanks,
since the RAID can't be reconfigured while booted off one of the internal drives and since this can't be accomplished remotely using Server Assistant I need to reconfigure it with another (external) system. Is that true?
I suppose it could also be done directly at the Xserve, but I do not have a Mini Display Port Adapter at hand, so this is currently no option. It seems to work with an external FW drive running OS X 10.5.7 (Client) which has the RAID Utility on it...

Can I create a raid 1+0 setup across daisychained thunderbolt harddrives?

I need more storage and need it to be quick and redundant
I'm concidering 2 of either the WD thunderbolt duo 6TB or the LaCie 2Big Thunderbolt 6TB.
I want to set each 2disk unit to RAID 1 and then srtipe them as RAID0 accross thunderbolt to hopefully result in one striped and mirrored 6TB RAID volume
Is this possible?
I'm hoping yes because i've seen 4 of the WB unit daisychained as one huge RAID0 but I'd like the redundancy.
also i want the resultant volume in exFAT as I am constantly jumping between OSX and Win 7

I don't believe so. Apple uses its own approach to the RAID setup and for presenting the volumes to the OS for use, and I dont think Windows has the infrastructure to handle Apple's software RAID. For RAID volumes the system loads the initial RAID handling software from a pre-boot partition similar to the Recovery HD partition for handling FileVault 2, and then mounts the disk and loads the OS from it. When in the OS the system contains the disk utility tools for detecting the attached RAID devices and assembling the RAID when it's present. Windows would need a similar setup to do this.

Is the latest iMac compatible with external raid 1 drive setups?

I'm considering different new Mac options to replace my first gen Mac Pro. The new and most outfitted iMac seems like a good solution for my mostly Photoshop work. But, is the new iMac compaticle with Thunderbolt external RAID multi drive enclosures?

Sure, why not contact OWC (www.macsales.com) where they sell RAID solutions for Macs. Because they specialize in Macs they test every product they sell.

Connecting OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Dual-Bay (RAID) Enclosure help setup

System info:
Enclosure: OWC Mercury Elite-Pro Dual Bay (RAID Enclosure)
Comps: Mac Pro & MacBook Pro 13"
OS: 10.6.4
Connected enclosure via firewire800 with 2x 2tb hitachi drives.
So I picked up an Open Box version of essentially this enclosure:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW936AL2/
(the differences is, the light is not in the direct center of the enclosure as pictured and the little blue switch is not on the logicboard under the fan like it was pictured in the instructional booklet).
Now going through the instructional manual, and wanting to set it up as a RAID 0 i noticed that on my enclosure there wasnt a place on the board for it to switch it to proper type of configuration i wanted.
And their site is a little messy (imho) to find the proper info and so many variants of their enclosures.
So heres what my enclosure board looks like:
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/7708/owc.jpg
I put two 2TB drives in the enclosure (2 Hitachi Deskstar 7200s).
plug it in via FireWire800 to my MacBookPro and get the initialize the drive alert and thats where iam at. I havent set up this particular enclosure before so im not sure if its all software controlled now and the best way to go about configuring it the way I want it to (RAID 0 for now).
and how to go about in the future changing it if i say wanted RAID 1 or JBOD.
any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

thanks, though the problem has been resolved courtesy of Loudspeakermusic's link.
The problem is that the manual doesnt state anything about this particular drive.
As you can see from the image:
mine does not have the actual jumper settings like indicated of Page 5 of the PDF Manual (the same Manual i got with the actual enclosure).
So the firmwire utility helped as I was able to create the RAID or RAID 1 or SPAN/JBOD properly.
According to OWC if there drive was over 1TB in size I must click on the Enable Large Disk box to allow me to use 2x2TB drives then once I set the firmware to RAID 0, i can format them properly in Disk Utility.
So far I'm running the 2x2TB (4TB) in RAID 0 on my enclosure fine and can transfer just well.
Like Loudspeaker stated, i have to have the drive directly connected and not daisychained as I did not know why I wasnt able to change the firmware settings.
as shown:
Thanks for all the pointers!

Activate RAID from AHCI setup

Just upgraded from XP to W8 then W8.1 and cannot get the RAID to work.
For the upgrade, I took out the RAID drives, and just left the system drive in place.
In XP the system has run with a system disc connected to a SATA port, and two larger drives in RAID1 (Mirror). The 3 discs are IDE drives each with an IDE to SATA converter. Its an MSI H67MA-E35(B3) motherboard with low power (eco) i3 processor.
After the upgrade, the BIOS SATA was set to IDE. When I put the two larger drives back into the PC (these are in caddies), W8.1 recognises them as separate drives.
I changed the BIOS to RAID, then got "Windows ran into a problem and needs to restart ..", then into a fix loop. After investigating, I found that changing the registry key for a SATA AHCI boot is where to start: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\storAHCI\StartOverride
to 0, then in msconfig setting boot to safe mode, restart the PC, in BIOS set SATA to AHCI it took ages to boot to safe mode. Resetting to normal boot it works fine in AHCI mode.
The result is the same as IDE mode, W8.1 boots and works the same.
With limited and often unclear information from the web, I wanted to move onto RAID config. So changed the key: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaSTorV\StartOverride to 0, this I understand is the Intel RAID driver activation, and setting
to boot to safe mode, I then set the BIOS to RAID on reboot. W8.1 never even gets to safe mode, no matter what I then do I cannot get W8.1 to get past the "Windows ran into a problem and needs to restart ..".
I would really appreciate this answering once and for all, with a process that actually works, by someone who knows and is not just guessing - preferably someone from Microsoft PLEASE.
What seems so silly is that W8 is reading data from the main drive to give me the repair loop, so why has MS made this so stupidly difficult. It is not uncommon to want to add additional drives to a PC, and in the past this has not been an issue to achieve. This
seems a real step backward from XP
Thanks.

I just stumbled across this thread while trying to solve the same issue. My son has a PC with an ageing Intel D945GTP motherboard running Windows 8.1. I acquired a second hard drive and wanted to add it and create a RAID 1 array as security against HDD failure
but without losing data from the existing drive. At first I encountered all of the frustrations that you have detailed here. However, in the end, it was quite simple. I found a couple of threads online that indicated the procedure, as follows:
In Windows, open msconfig.exe (in Windows 8 just type this in the Metro screen and it will find the file)
On the Boot tab, check the box for Boot in Safe Mode, click apply and OK, then close msconfig.
The computer will prompt you to restart, click OK
During restart, go into the BIOS (click and hold either Delete or F2 depending on your motherboard)
In the BIOS, select the Advanced tab and go to Drive Configuration
Select RAID
Save changes and exit the BIOS.
The computer will restart and Windows will boot in safe mode. While it is booting in safe mode, Windows will install the RAID drivers. You can check it in Device Manager under Storage Controllers.
Open msconfig again and unckeck Boot in Safe Mode
Windows will prompt you to restart. This time Windows will boot normally with RAID enabled.
You can now download Rapid Storage Technology from the Intel download center and use the software to configure your RAID array from within Windows.
This process was relatively simple and worked perfectly first time in Windows 8.1 32 bit.

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.

Easiest solution for adding Fibre Channel Tape Backup to Xserve RAID setup

I'm interested in getting a Fibre Channel LTO-3 tape library such as the Exabyte 221L for my Xserve RAID/Xserve G5 setup. I realize there are SCSI LTO-3 solutions that are less expensive than FC, but I'd prefer not to have to add a SCSI card to my Xserve, mainly because I'd have to pull the video card and run the server headless (horrors!). However, I understand that I must get a Fibre Channel switch to allow the LTO library, the Xserve, and the Xserve RAID to communicate... you can't just daisy chain FC devices. The least expensive switch I can find is the new QLogtic SANbox 3050 for about $1800. For my situation, in which these will be the only FC devices I'll probably ever use, does this switch sound appropriate? The specs on the switch can be found here: http://www.qlogic.com/products/sanbox/sanbox_3050.asp.
Xserve RAID & Xserve G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

For simple environments like yours, it's trivially easy. You must plug everything in, and you're good to go... as simple as a network switch.
Now if you start adding multiple hosts (i.e. plug in a second Xserve or G5), you need to be careful, because in the default configuration everything is "wide open," so every device can see every storage LUN. This would actually be problematic, as systems could (actually, would) corrupt each other's storage. When you get to this point, you'll need to look at either zoning the ports on the switch, or using LUN masking on the Xserve RAID to allocate specific pieces of storage to specific hosts.
But for now, just get the switch, plug everything in, and you're off.
BTW if you mark "answered" for me, versus for the thread overall, it helps me out a bit in this forum ranking system, whatever it is.
Cheers.

K9N2 SLI Platinum raid setup after bios flash

Hi
I'm building a new system based on K9N2 SLI Platinum. Apart from a new 80 GB sys. HDD everything else is reuse from another MB (MSI K9N Platinum).
Here is what is puzling me: Before trying to install WinXP i flashed the bios to 3.2 because of the included updates to the raid bios. Flashing went well, however in my setup I want the 80 GB HDD to be non-raid and the two 320 GB HDD to be raid1. I've set this up in bios so that only channel 5 and 6 is enabled for raid and would expect that the 80 GB HDD (channel 1) would show up as a normal sata HDD when starting up. But it doesn't - it is listed as 0.0 xxxx after the "press F10 to enter raid setup" message?
This is strange because I had the same HDD setup on my old MSI K9N Platinum and there the 80 GB sata HDD was shown as a "normal" disk and not as a "appendix" to the raid list.
Because of this I have problems installing WinXP on the 80 GB HDD
Any suggestions?

Hi BOSSKILLER
Thanks for your quick response.
Quote from: BOSSKILLER on 12-August-08, 00:14:44
Well, leave the 80GB only and install XP over it.
Then connect other two HDD's and enable RAID for them.
Unfortunately this didn't help. As soon as I installed the Windows nVidia RAID SW it prompted med that it had registered the 80 GB disk as a new disk that wasn't a member of any RAID. This happened everytime Windows XP was started.
The trick was to add the 80 GB disk as a Spanned disk using the nVidia RAID BIOS setup utility. Install Windows XP (again) and the Windows nVidia RAID SW and setup RAID 1 on the other two sata disk.
I don't think this is a great setup but it works. I hope that MSI will fix this issue in a later BIOS upgrade. It would be nice if the enabled/disabled for sata RAID setting actually worked.

W700 (2757) Raid Setup Configrations

Hi i have the Folliwing LAPTOP:
W700 (2757CTO)
Vista 64bit (Ultimate)
2XHDD X 160GB / 7200rpm
2GM Turbomemory
and all extra stuff like: Wacom digit../ Blue Ray/ 4 GB RAM/ Q9300 Extreem Quadro/ etc.
Also update the BIOS to V 1.09
Trouble:
When i enabnle RAID in BIOS setup utility from AHCI >RAID during windows boot screen it suddenly goes blue screen and than restart.
I have Tried it all three possible ways:
1. Just only Enable RAID with out seting up RAID in the Intel Matrix RAID configuration menue (only Enable in BIOS)
2. Enable it BIOS than "F10" than "Ctrl I" in the Intel Matrix Screen Setup to "RAID 0" it ask me all data will be lost accepted it than restarted my LAPTOP used Recovery CDs the one i created from my LAPTOP Vista 64bit, after completing the setup it says sucessfully done restarts the Computer and than at the and same this, during windows bootup screen Blue Screen and restart. i tried to capture the error but it so fat restarting and unable to use the "Pause Break" button to see the error code.
3. Every thing same as in # 2 but this time i set it to "RAID1". result is the 100% same.
Your response to this will be highly appriciated.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

nomi_000,
You cannot have Turbo Memory and RAID configured at the same time.....it is one or the other. This is a current limitation of the Intel Matrix Storage Driver that I hope will be addressed soon.
This is why the Lenovo sales website will not allow you to configure a system with RAID and Turbo Memory together. So the most likely scenario is you configured your system at the time of purchase with "Internal RAID" not enabled.
If you want to setup RAID on your system, you will first need to remove the Turbo Memory chip.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
Regards

Can I add partitions on a RAID 0 setup?

Hi everyone,
I just recently bought a used macbook pro, (15-Inch, Early 2008) that the previous owner put a RAID 0 setup on. I want to try out the OSX Yosemite Beta, but i want to try it on a separate partition so I can keep my Mavericks environment intact. I don't know i it is possible, but I would like some help on how to make a partition with the RAID setup on it. (I do have an external hard drive too, is there a way to run Yosemite off of the external instead of messing with the internal on my MBP?) Thanks in advance for your help!!!
Tommy

Camelot wrote:
This doesn't sound like an XServe RAID question - the XServe RAID is a (now-discontinued) 14-drive RAID enclosure designed for server applications.
I apologize for not knowing where. I know how forum members get upset when people use the wrong forum. It was unintentional.
For a start there's a question of the enclosure... Is the enclosure a 'dumb' enclosure that just connects the drives to your host system, or does it have a built-in RAID controller.
It is not a dumb enclosure - it does have jumpers for setting it up under different strategies.
That is going to be critical in answering your question. If the enclosure has a built-in RAID controller then you will want to use that to manage the RAID 1 mirror setup and you'll likely need to use software provided by the enclosure vendor to set that up.
Where I am at is that DU does NOT allow this system to be used and recognized by TC. I had to set the enclosure under RAID 1 and that is the only way the TC would allow it to be recognized by my network
Once that's done your host system will be presented with a 1TB volume (the RAID/mirror is hidden from the OS) and you can partition that like any other drive.
If the enclosure is dumb it's a little more complex since you'll need to configure the mirror via Disk Utility and then partition the resulting volume (note also that throughput will be lower in this mode since the OS has to write twice as much data over the link to the enclosure - with a hardware RAID in the enclosure the OS only has to write one copy of the data and the enclosure takes care of writing it to both disks).
So, what's the enclosure you're using?
I am using the Hornettek unit.
Thanks for your help. It took me a long time to get to where I am with this unit. TC evidently will not allow it to be recognized if I used DU to configure it.

Raid cards for mac pro 2.66

i would like to set up a hardware card for my os as raid 0
(2 10,000 rpm hard drives)
and a hardware raid 1 for my data.(same/separate card ??)
are there any sudgestions on makes and models and compatability?
i am aware of the software raids provided by the os, i've heard they are not as reliable and fast as the harware solution, agree, disagree???

Yeah they say the software raid is good and I can't say first hand but I have heard good reports. In general I prefer hardware RAID but i setup server not clients so. Was using acard.com stuff for a bit but there offerings have gone down on the mac side. My current card of choice is Highpoint's Rocket RAID.
http://www.highpoint-tech.com/
Card works good and drivers all appear to be up-to-date with Intel based Mac's now. Nice web-GUI to the Raid controller. My only complaint could be OS related as opposed to driver but the Hot-Swap won't work right. In order for me to swap i need to drop the drives from the server and pull them. (alarms alarms, lol) Then put my swaps in. Seems the release call from the web-GUI does not kick the drive out right or the Mac OS won't let go of them even after un-mounting.

Need help with WinXP 64 and raid please...

First off let me just say that for the past week or two I've been lurking on this forum while building my first 64 bit pc and I just want to say that all of your advice, suggestions, tips, and workarounds have proven to be invaluable. A sincere, heartfelt thanks to everyone here. Like many of yours, my build has also been problematic. In fact, I guess I'd have to call it a pain in the ass. I can't imagine having done it without your help by using trial & error, so once again; thanks! Now, on to my ? My plan was to have one PATA 40gb HD to house 2 OS's on 2 partitions; a dual boot with XP and XP64, AND one RAID 0 made up of 2 160gb SATA HD's for everything else (actually the plan was to put the OS's on a Raptor but $$$). Now here's the prob: XP's up and running fine but when I try installing XP64 and it asks for the RAID drivers, it won't take them. It says they're not for a 64 bit OS. ? Am I the only one that thinks that odd? Isn't that the ultimate point of all this? So am I missing something? I d/l'd the 64 bit drivers from NVidia, is there a way to extract RAID drivers from them to a floppy? Also, I'd like both OS's to utilize the same RAID array for programs, storage etc. Is that a problem (my first time installing RAID )? And if it WILL work, is it going to insist on wiping the drives and starting fresh? I hope not since since I've already got a ton of stuff on there. Anyway, thanks in advance for any and all help you might offer. Keep up the good work. -Glyph

Thanks for your quick responses. So are you saying that if my OS isn't on the RAID array then I don't need the RAID drivers during setup? That's interesting. It's not how I understood it to be (not to say your wrong though). I'm pretty sure I needed them in WinXP, though it's on a different disc as well. Now that I think about it, maybe I could've waited and installed them through device manager with the same end result? I guess I'll try it and find out. And are there any ideas regarding the 2nd part of my question re data loss? I'd really hate to start from scratch at this point.

Raid 3 or 5 setup

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