IDE or RAID?

[skynet]

I am thinking about extra IDE Devices, I was wondering what the differance is between IDE and RAID controller card.
-Thanks

[spigidygak]

IDE cards are just to add more ide channels so you can have more devices. RAID controller cards are for using Hard drives in RAID.

[sho.gun]

Say... while we're talking about RAID, if I were to get 2 40gb IDE drives in raid0 mode, do I get a total of 80gb on my C drive or is it only 40. I think it's 80 but I'm a bit unsure.

[LPMiller]

it's 80 GB.

[sho.gun]

yay, thanks for clearing that up. Now I need a spare $100 to get that second 40gb...

[Grimm]

You are aware that if one of the hard drives bites the big one, you lose ALL you data?

[spigidygak]

RAID 0: data stripping only, no data reliability versus other forms of RAID

RAID 1: Uses disk mirroring, gives ya 100% duplication of data, so its the highest reliability but you get half the storage.

Then there are 2,3,4,5,6,53 but. . . I won't go into those unless if someone needs to know. . .

[sho.gun]

Originally posted by Grimm
You are aware that if one of the hard drives bites the big one, you lose ALL you data?

Yeah, I just gotta back up my stuff often... but wouldn't it be the same if you're only using 1 hard drive? Say your C drive bites the boot, you'd still lose all that's in there.

[jkusar]

Originally posted by sho.gun


Yeah, I just gotta back up my stuff often... but wouldn't it be the same if you're only using 1 hard drive? Say your C drive bites the boot, you'd still lose all that's in there.

This is absolutely the case. But the odds of hard drive failure go up slightly by having double the possible points of failure. However with today's drives, the chances of failure are extremely low. If you are buying two relatively new 40 GB drives, you really shouldn't have too much to worry about.

On a side note, if you are getting a second drive to pair with one you already have, try to find one of the same model you are using. RAID cards can compensate for different models and speeds, but it always works better if the speeds (especially the seek time) is the same for both drives.

Have fun.
-Jason

[sho.gun]

Sory Skynet for leeching off of your thread...

Thanks Jason for the info, I was planning on getting 2 Seagate Barracuda IV 40gb drives, each going 7200 rpms. From the reviews I've read, it seems to be a pretty solid drive and it's very quiet. My second choice would the the IBM Deskstar 60GXP 40gb, but its more expensive. Anyone have these drives? If so what do you think of it?

[Grimm]

Originally posted by jkusar


This is absolutely the case. But the odds of hard drive failure go up slightly by having double the possible points of failure.


Slightly? They double.

I want an IDE RAID that supports 4 devices and allows striping with parity (RAID 5 I believe).

[skynet]

Sory Skynet for leeching off of your thread...
Its cool, I understand what RAID is now. So RAID bassically combines your drives together?

[sho.gun]

Yes, it combines 2 (or more) drives into one, and each drive writes half the data, thus giving it a huge performance boost.

[jkusar]

Originally posted by Grimm


Slightly? They double.

I want an IDE RAID that supports 4 devices and allows striping with parity (RAID 5 I believe).

Yeah, from 0.01% to 0.02%

IDE drives have a mean time to failure of about 3-5 years.

Basically, if it makes it through the burn in period, it should last at least three years.

Actually, I seem to recall someone once showing me a formula that defied common sense yet was mathematically sound. By having a second drive, it doesn't actually double the chance of failure. I can't remember the formula or how it worked, but I'll look for it and see if I can't find it. If I do, I'll post it. Of course I could just be getting senile.

Either way, your chances of a hard drive failure are pretty low. As long as you keep it cool, don't immerse it in water, etc.

[sho.gun]

Originally posted by jkusar


don't immerse it in water, etc.


Bah, I was gonna fill my case with water and turn it into an aquarium...

But yeah, post that formula it sounds interesting.

[skynet]

What happens if you connect CD Rom drives or a CDROM and DVD Drive?

[Speedfreak]

Originally posted by jkusar
If you are buying two relatively new 40 GB drives, you really shouldn't have too much to worry about.

Unless they are IBM. ;)

[Speedfreak]

Originally posted by jkusar
don't immerse it in water, etc.


Oh, now you tell me. Great. :angry:








:heh:

[skynet]

Two Questions:
What happens when you connect CD Roms together, or a CDRom and DVD or a CD Rom and Hard Drive?
Also, If I have information on two hard drives and I want to RAID them? Will I lose my inforamtion and have to spart with a backup? Or will it work like that? I'm thinking there needs to be some partioning done.
-Thanks

[sho.gun]

You can't really connect 2 cd-roms in RAID because the main factor in RAIDing is to combine 2 drives to be read as 1. I'm not sure how the computer is going to read 2 different CDs and combine the information as 1. What RAID is for is high performance storage, you can't use CD ROM drives or DVD because those only read.

[skynet]

But what would happen if you did connect them? Would they just be two seperate drives or would they be damaged?
Also, I hae two hard drives right now, If i Raided them, would I lose my current non-Raid data?

[rajatQ2]

Originally posted by skynet
But what would happen if you did connect them? Would they just be two seperate drives or would they be damaged?
Also, I hae two hard drives right now, If i Raided them, would I lose my current non-Raid data?

Can't hook CD-Roms up to use RAID. A few of the raid cards i've seen have extra slots just to hook up standard devices. Makes sense that raid can only be used for hard drives. I also played with this really cool Asus mobo this week, had 4 ide buses - 2 for ide raid (promise chip, onboard) and 2 plain old ata/100 ide connectors. It was an asus a7b33 or something like that motherboard.

About losing the data, you would most likely lose it. If you were to use any data striping, you would have to format the hard drive and start all over. That would be becuase you put half (or all) of each file on both hard drives. So i guess if you used Raid 0+1 (its a combination of Raid 0 (striping) and Raid 1 (mirroring)) you might be able to save your data.you could just copy all HD1's onto the 2nd hard drive. But one of the drives would have to be blank for sure :)

In any case, back up your data because you'll probably lose it!

[Clauzii]

Originally posted by sho.gun
Yes, it combines 2 (or more) drives into one, and each drive writes half the data, thus giving it a huge performance boost.

If you just need room for extra HDs, a normal ATA/100 controller will do. Or you could change to a SCSI-systems with benefits like: Even more throughput, a lot more drives, scanners etc., and an access time
almost half of what we are used to by IDE drives...

In RAID systems there are a lot of different options:
(I can´t remember the different combination numbers, but anyway)

Connecting 2 (Equal!) drives to get a big one.
Connecting 2 (Equal!) drives to get (almost) double the performance of one!

And then with 3 (or more) drives, you also get some sequrity, because the x-tra drives then are used to make a mirroring of data written to the ´normal´ drive/s.

The more secure, the more expensive, becourse of more drives.
To my knowledge, there is no way of tripleing either striping or
performance with normal consumer RAID cards.

NOTE: I actually think every current data on the drive/s you have, needs to be backed up, because changing from a normal IDE controller to a RAID one, also changes the way the HDs are accessed.

BUT: I love SCSI 320 with a LOT of performance, and a LOT of drives -
but unfortunately also a multiple in cost....

OR: get a FireWire-card and connect even more HDs, Burners etc. on one string. (I think it is a max. of 64 devices in total...)

[skynet]

With RAID do the hard drives have to be of equal size? I have a 10 gig and a 4 gig that I want to RAID.
If I were to goto SCSI, I would need SCSI Hard Drivers right? I only have IDE and the reason I have a 10 and 4 gig is because I dont have the money to get a new one.

[sho.gun]

I'm guessing you're going to use RAID 0 then, and if you are, it will only work on the lesser of amount of the drives. I know I worded that kinda awkwardly by I shall provide an examply. You have a 10 and a 4 gb drive, since both drives perform in unison, you will only get the lesser of the amount. You get the full 4gb from the 4gb drive and another 4gb from the 10gb. I wouldn't recommend using different amounts of capacity and they might also have different seek times. That would hinder the RAID performance. Gosh, I just woke up sorry if I'm not making any sense...

[DeepFreeze]

you can raid 0. but it is only going to be 6 GB.

[skynet]

Why wouldn't it be 8 gig? 4 from the 10 and 4 from the 4?
Any one know about that SCSI question? Do I have to have SCSI hard drives for it to work?

[sho.gun]

6 gb? As far as I know you would get double the amount of the smaller drive, so it should be 8. Yes, SCSI is different than IDE and you'll need a different controller card. SCSI drives are also more expensive than IDE.

[Dave_7]

You should be able to partition the 10-Gig to a 4 and a 6, no? And use the 4-Gig partition as the "left" side of the RAID config with the lone 4-Gig drive.

Right?

Of course, you'll lose your info on the large drive (if it's not already blank). But, you could make a Ghost image of it... then partition it... then re-lay the Ghost image on the partitioned "part." Allow myself to introduce... myself.






Dave.

[skynet]

If I were to buy a RAID card, lets say this one
http://www.amamax.com/powmagpciatr.html
Would I have to use the RAID Function Immediatly? Or can I opt to have the card function as a IDE COntroller card until Im ready? I can't seem to find a Cheap IDE Controller card

[rajatQ2]

Originally posted by skynet
If I were to buy a RAID card, lets say this one
http://www.amamax.com/powmagpciatr.html
Would I have to use the RAID Function Immediatly? Or can I opt to have the card function as a IDE COntroller card until Im ready? I can't seem to find a Cheap IDE Controller card

RAID cards and IDE cards are two totally different birds. One can't do what the other does. its like trying to plug a usb cable into your headphones.

Cheap IDE controllers, go to www.us.buy.com and look for the brand "Promise technology". They make some of the best. My Ultra66 card was $24, shipped, and i love it.

[Clauzii]

Originally posted by skynet
Why wouldn't it be 8 gig? 4 from the 10 and 4 from the 4?
Any one know about that SCSI question? Do I have to have SCSI hard drives for it to work?

No, I have read about some converters which are used to convert the SCSI cards to work with IDE drives! The performance loss is almost nonexistent.

I cant find the adrress right now, but I know the price is around
100$. ...Which may seem a lot, but compare the price of a 80GB SCSI disk with an IDE drive, and you get my point!!!

I´ll be back with the adress soon...

[Clauzii]

Originally posted by rajatQ2


RAID cards and IDE cards are two totally different birds. One can't do what the other does. its like trying to plug a usb cable into your headphones.

Cheap IDE controllers, go to www.us.buy.com and look for the brand "Promise technology". They make some of the best. My Ultra66 card was $24, shipped, and i love it.

As I know, the RAID functionallity is something you can turn on and off on the card, so a RAID card should indeed be possible to use as an ordinary IDE controller, ehh!