Add a 2nd SSD for RAID 0

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
The Ether Bunny

The Ether Bunny

Reputable
Jan 7, 2015
51
0
4,660
So I am running out of room on my 256 GB SSD (I have like 30 GB left on it. OS/Games/Programs). I bought an identical SSD.

My question is: can I just pop the new one in and set it to RAID 0 to double my capacity or do I have to wipe the used one and start from scratch?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
V

VincentP

Splendid
Oct 18, 2013
4,105
1
26,965
RAID without a good RAID controller is not a good idea.
The motherboard RAID solution relies on the CPU to do most of the work.
The delay caused by the extra processing will slow things down more than any benefit from having two drives reading at once.
The other issue is data loss. If either of the drives fail, you lose everything.

If despite all this you did want to create a RAID 0 volume, creating the volume would destroy all data currently on the disks.
I would suggest you just use new drive as a second drive. You can install programs to the drive by modifying the install path during install. For Steam you can create a second steam folder on the second drive and select this when installing games.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The Ether Bunny

The Ether Bunny

Reputable
Jan 7, 2015
51
0
4,660
Thanks for the reply.

I know the risks involved with RAID 0. I have done it on my last three builds with no problems at all (using the motherboard RAID controller). I have a HHD to do full back-up every day.

I just have always had two new drives when I started, so this is a bit different for me.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
V

VincentP

Splendid
Oct 18, 2013
4,105
1
26,965


It is also a bit different if your previous builds had HDDs in RAID 0 rather than SSDs. Because of the high throughput these drives are capable of already, any potential gain is reduced and the load on the CPU is increased.
If you do want to do it, take a full backup of the drive before creating the RAID volume. Your backup software should allow you to restore to the new volume and increase the size of the C drive partition at the same time.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom