Will a RAID setup be lost if i reinstall MacOSX Tiger?

Is it possible to reinstall Mac OSX on a computer that has a S-ATA card with a raid connected to it? Will the Raid be lost or will it show up in the new installation? I used Disc Utility for the Raid setup.
I would really like to do a reinstall on my computer without having to back up all my 1.5 TB to external discs.
PowerMacG5 Mac OS X (10.4.6) S-ATA card with RAID

They'll remain as is. Back them up anyway.
(75503)

Similar Messages

Need help urgently -- will this RAID setup work?!

At the office we have some old Powermac G4s. not sure of the operating system or anything. all of the graphics department uses brand new, dual processor, 2 GB RAM, powermac G5 beasts. i want to set up a powermac G4 with two 300 GB hard drives (mirrored), with a hardware raid controller. is that doable? i was going to get this card:
http://trevorcvitkovich.com/December16/IMG_7728.jpg
and just two 300 GB SATA drives. how hard is that? i don't want to use any software based RAID. could this work? i looked inside the G4, and the motherboard has these weird PCI slots that have 3 holes instead of 4 that the card in the picture above does.
how does that work?
let me know please, i'd like to get this done by the end of the week
Regards
~Lorenzo

Mystical, technically everything sounds good, however, without knowing the OS or exactly what you are saying about the PCI slots it is hard to say for sure. But everything sound good to go.
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/firmtek/1v4/
Joe

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.

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.

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.
It will not partition at all. It returns a POSIX error: unable to allocate memory.
I've tried the following:
Using startup disk
Partitioning using WindowsXP (which worked....only for Windows)
Tried erasing
Tried to partition with each partition type.
Nothing works! However, when I restart SL, it pops open a window indicating the drive needs to be 'initialized'. I click 'initialize' button, but that doesn't help.

Do the following:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
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.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
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.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Are you trying to create a RAID using partitions on hard drives or using the entire drive?

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:
2x Xserve RAID running on Xsan with two Xserve G5 servers, one for media and the other for Metadata.
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.

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

and here's goes yet another "what should i do raid-wise" question:
gonna build another editing station using some extra parts i have laying around. board is an asus x58 with a intel 980, video will be a nvidia 470. i found my old areca 1220 which i know is a little long in the tooth but would be nice to get some more use out of.
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.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/RAID-SCALING-CHARTS,1635-7.html   (raid 0)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/RAID-SCALING-CHARTS,1662.html (raid 5,6)
ill buy all new drives for this machine (os, media, etc...). i know harm likes his raid 3 thing and im hoping he pops in with his expertise. so my question is how should i go about my complete disk setup from scratch here? type of disks? how many? which raid setup?
My budget is $1000 for the disks. also i mostly edit hd from my mark iii. im using the ml raw hack for about half my shots (and growing). pp cs6, ae cs6, cinema 4d r14 are my progs, though im a cc subscriber and will be integrating the new cc progs into my workflow over the next month or 2 as they work out the bugs/kinks. TIA

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.
If 6 TB is enough, you could look at Seagate Constellation ES 1 TB disks and keep the rest of your budget for the future, if you need 12 TB you could look at HGST Ultrastar or Seagate Constellation 2 TB disks. I would only suggest enterprise drives.
With 8 ports I would configure them as 7 x raid3 or raid5 plus one hot-spare, giving you a net capacity of 6 disks, protection against failure of two disks and a sustained transfer rate of around 0.85 x (N - 1) x T = 0.85 x (7 - 1) x 150 = 765 MB/s. My preference is raid3, but you already know that.
The advantage of this setup is you have double protection in case of disk failure, you have a very high transfer rate and it is easy to administer. Using two arrays reduces performance, reduces protection and is somewhat more cumbersome to administer.

How to enter ICH5R RAID SETUP MENU?

It is said USE "CTRL+I" enter ICH5R RAID SETUP MENU,but when my computer boot up , there only show press "CTRL+F" for promise 378 raid setup,not "CTRL+I"
even you press "CTRL+I" for many times,when computer is power on,it is nothing happen. If you don't install S-ATA harddisk ,you may not enter ICH5R RAID SETUP MENU? isn't it?
I can use "CTRL+F" enter promise 378 raid setup menu,and how can I enter ICH5R RAID SETUP MENU as the explanatory book said??

In BIOS set S-ATA as RAID, after that you will be able to enter the ICH5R-BIOS with ctrl+I. It appears after the promise BIOS.

IMac - will my raid set be recognized after a fresh install?

I own an iMac late 2012 and I installed an external raid with two Lacie thunderbolt disks. Will my raid be recognized after a fresh install of mavericks?
Software OS X 10.9.1 (13B42),
Grafica NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M 512 MB
Memoria 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Processore 2,9 GHz Intel Core i5

Is this a RAID 0 (mirror) or RAID 1 (striped) setup?
While I am by no means a RAID expert, it seems to me that if you have a software RAID of two external HDs (i.e. set up via Disk Utility or other software), then a fresh (clean) install of OS X would no longer recognize the RAID.
Doing a clean install would wipe OS X's knowledge of the software RAID and you would have to set it up again. You can certainly set up the software RAID again, but I suspect that would re-initialize the RAID setup on the hard drives and probably wipe previous data. There IS a Rebuild option, but I have no idea if that would work in a case where you freshly install OS X.
On the other hand, I believe that upgrading OS X (rather than freshly installing the operating system) would preserve the software RAID setup.
Regardless of how you upgrade or reinstall OS X, back up your data first.

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.

Advice RAID Setup MacPro 2009

Hi
I'm after advice on 3 things regarding the setup of my 2009 Mac Pro -
1/ When I bought my secondhand 2009 Mac Pro the Apple RAID card battery was dead and I was wondering if because I'm using RAID 0 would I be better off using the RAID software as I am running out of PCIe ports and feel that a future Black Magic card my be of more benefit?. Is there a significant speed difference between the hardware & software RAIDS or is Hardware really for Raid 5 or 10? I have also heard of issues with the Apple RAID card relating to having to run your computer 24/7.
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

Best configuration for RAID-setup?

After reading the post about what FS would be best for 5x500GB, it occurred to me that I have to migrate my RAID-setup soonish and that I would like to hear some more opinions before doing so.
At the moment, my server is running 64bit Arch for 1.5 years now, and it is composed of new parts (C2D 8400, 4GB RAM and 3x320GB HD) with an 'old' 6-port SATA RAID-controller (HP-rebranded Adaptec 2605-card) that I recuperated from our previous office-server. Since I had never worked with RAID before in my life, I was very happy that installing an FS on it and installing arch on that FS went without a hassle.
Now I have to grow the capacity, and although I have some spare ports (3 out of 6 are free), I fear that I'll have to rebuild the FS, since I didn't install LVM. Rebuilding the array might include a risk to lose my data, so I'm thinking of just starting over and doing it right this time:
1. Separate disk for the OS, not in a RAID-array
2. 3-disk RAID-5 array, with LVM
3. Partition the LVM in two slices (1 for work and 1 for 'play').
Are there any considerations I have to think of before doing this? I think Ext4 is the FS-of-choice for a server that will be doing mainly NFS (media), CUPS, and some HTTP/PostgreSQL...

All sounds good to me... I'm not personally a fan of RAID-5 just due to personal preference, but with 3 disks it's your only option really.

[nVidia Series] Nvidia RAID setup

Hi,
Where is the docs for the nVidia Raid setup ?

this the guide you are looking for,you will need adobe acrobat reader as its a pdf fhttp://www.rioworks.co.jp/bios/files/hdamd/NVRaid_11.pdfile !

Fault Tolerant RAID Setup

I recently had a drive fail on me. It took down the RAID, and our web site that was served off that drive. I thought I had the Raid setup right, but I guess I was wrong.
I have a slot loading G4 xServe. It's connected with both fiber channels to the xServe RAID. I had 2 drives on the left side, and 2 on the right. Both drives were set as Raid 1. I then used the Server to Raid 0 the drives.
Well, this didn't work. Can someone help me to set the server so that I won't lose the web site if another drive fails? If I didn't make sense, please ask.
Thanks!
Pismo G3 / Ti G4 1k / 2 xServe G5 / 2 xServe G4/RAID Mac OS X (10.4.3)

The only way you should have lost any data was if you
lost two disks on either side, in which case
you would lose the array.
You can also lose data if the software striping breaks irreparably, which has happened several times to me. I wouldn't ever use Apple's software striping on a mission critical RAID.
If it were my box, I'd only use the hardware RAID (mirroring) - leave the software level 0 out. Or get a 3rd drive for each side and use RAID 5 instead. Both these options, of course, force you to use two volumes instead or RAID'ing them into one, but it's much more stable that way.
MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Pros and cons to JBOD/N-RAID setup on MacBook Pro with two internal SSDs

First, to clarify, in this case, I mean the term "JBOD/N-RAID" to refer to a concatenated or spanning set of drives as supported by OS X and Disk Utility.
I've got an original Apple-installed 120GB 3G (3Gb/s) SSD which I'll be moving into the optical bay using an OWC "Data Doubler" and swapping a new 240GB OWC Mercury Electra 6G (6Gb/s) SSD into the main drive bay.
My goal is to avoid having two separate volumes.
Understand that a RAID 0 array would essentially only perform as well as the slowest drive in the array (the 3G SSD in this case), if it would even work at all given the two drives are not identical in make and capacity.
I've read that a JBOD/N-RAID array isn't subject to the "same make and capacity" constraints. But how does this setup perform?
Would the speed of the 6G be hobbled, slowed down to the 3G's speed (or worse?), if I were to set up the two SSDs as a JBOD/N-RAID array?
Is this even a recommended idea - that is, paying for the convenience of having one virtual volume by adding the complexity (and risks?) of a JBOD / N-RAID setup?

I am following your advice and attempting to install Bonjour. I wasn't sure where to install it so I am following the VMWare Knowledge Base #1003814: Sharing a printer with a Windows virtual machine using Apple Bonjour.
I have copied it below to refer to because I've run into a problem.
I have completed steps 1 a-d.
The Problem: Step 1 e. Click Printers. Printers is not shown under Removable Devices. When I try to Add Device (Printers) it says "New Devices cannot be added until the Virtual Machine is Shut Down and then Resumed." I have shut down the Virtual Machine alone, I've shut down AMware Fusion and I've shut down both Windows and Mac. Nothing has changed when I try and add Printers so I can do Step e.
I sure hope someone can help.
To configure a printer connected to your Mac for use with the Bonjour utility and a virtual machine in Fusion:
Configure your virtual machine for Bridged Networking and disable ThinPrint:
Click Virtual Machine > Settings.
Click Network (Adapter).
Enable Bridged Mode. In Fusion 5.x, select Autodetect under Bridge networking.
Click Show All.
Click Printers.
Set printer sharing to Off.
Click Close.
Reboot the virtual machine.
Install Bonjour for Windows. Download and install Bonjour for Windows in the virtual machine. Bonjour is available from Apple at http://support.apple.com/kb/DL999.
Note: The preceding link was correct as of January 20, 2010. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.
Share the printer in Mac OS:
Open System Preferences.
Click Print and Fax.
Select the printer you want to share, and select Share this printer.
To configure the printer in the guest operating system with the Bonjour Utility:
Double-click the Bonjour Printer Wizard.
Click Next.
Under Shared printers select the printer you want to use.
Click Next.
Click Finish.

Will a RAID setup be lost if i reinstall MacOSX Tiger?

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