RAID 1 Server

balrogkiller12 · Feb 22, 2017

Hello,

I am trying to setup RAID 1 on my server for the first time, following this guide: http://

So in this guide I can see Disk 1 and Disk 2 where one can click on Add Volume. On my server 2008 this option is greyed out.

Any suggestions?

greens · Feb 22, 2017

Is it a real server? Usually you'll want to use the hardware raid built in.

But we need more info. Are Disk 1 and Disk 2 already in use at all? If they are you won't be able to make a new dynamic volume.

boosted1g · Feb 22, 2017

Disk 1 and 2 must be the same size, and Disk 2 must be empty.

You should be using hardware raid, not software in windows Most any motherboard has the ability to do Raid 1.

Now with that said why are you wanting to do RAID 1 in the first place??
RAID 1 is in absolutly no way a backup, RAID 1 is a mirror, the ONLY thing RAID 1 protects you against is a hard drive dying. If windows update trashes your OS, if you accidently delete a file, if data gets corrupted then with RAID 1 all you have is a perfect copy of the same screwed up condition.
You will be better off having your server make backups to your second drive instead of using RAID 1.

balrogkiller12 · Feb 23, 2017

boosted1g :

Then what backup procedure might you recommend?

Thanks in advance

Tcinator · Feb 23, 2017

Raid 1 is absolutely a industry standard practice for the boot drive of a server IF that server is not a VM on a cluster obviously. As far as how raid should be implemented, the RAID card on the mobo is not a hardware raid, it is infact a firmware raid and not at all much better than the windows software raid on modern hardware. RAID 1 is an extremely low overhead operation. If you were talking 5 or 6 where parity calculation is involved, I would agree, hardware offloading is important.

We are talking about a server here, manageability and reliability trump speed. either way, the other replies are correct, you need a clean drive the same size or larger than the primary drive to establish a RAID 1 on windows. if MOBO RAID is to be used, the creation of the volume will indeed wipe the drive contents.

Another solution to think about, depending on the hardware and your needs, is to install esxi and virtualize the windows os. makes for snapshots and management less dependent on the hardware failing, as storage of the vm is already safer from failure than a physical install.

Either way, Raid 1 is no backup for data damage, only drive failure. Windows server has a very good backup feature set ready to be installed as a service. https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770266(v=ws.10).aspx

Let me know if you have further questions.

balrogkiller12 · Feb 23, 2017

Tcinator :

Raid 1 is absolutely a industry standard practice for the boot drive of a server IF that server is not a VM on a cluster obviously. As far as how raid should be implemented, the RAID card on the mobo is not a hardware raid, it is infact a firmware raid and not at all much better than the windows software raid on modern hardware. RAID 1 is an extremely low overhead operation. If you were talking 5 or 6 where parity calculation is involved, I would agree, hardware offloading is important.

We are talking about a server here, manageability and reliability trump speed. either way, the other replies are correct, you need a clean drive the same size or larger than the primary drive to establish a RAID 1 on windows. if MOBO RAID is to be used, the creation of the volume will indeed wipe the drive contents.

Another solution to think about, depending on the hardware and your needs, is to install esxi and virtualize the windows os. makes for snapshots and management less dependent on the hardware failing, as storage of the vm is already safer from failure than a physical install.

Either way, Raid 1 is no backup for data damage, only drive failure. Windows server has a very good backup feature set ready to be installed as a service. https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770266(v=ws.10).aspx

Let me know if you have further questions.

Thank you for the constructive reply. I think this summed it all up.

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