p4c800d, use >2 sata drives without raid?

G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

p4c800 deluxe. i have 2 250gb hdd's on the regular sata connectors. for
various reasons i want to install a 3rd sata drive but do not want to
erase/reformat either of the two big guys (nor can i backup 500gb). can
i (i assume not but why no ask) put 1 or 2 of these drives on the sata
connectors for the promise controller without setting it up as a raid?
ie either 1 drive by itself or 2 drives as a jbod. thanks.
 

Paul

Splendid
Mar 30, 2004
5,267
0
25,780
Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (More info?)

In article <qMpWc.4715$OK6.1382@newssvr23.news.prodigy.com>, David Wolff
<hzb@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> p4c800 deluxe. i have 2 250gb hdd's on the regular sata connectors. for
> various reasons i want to install a 3rd sata drive but do not want to
> erase/reformat either of the two big guys (nor can i backup 500gb). can
> i (i assume not but why no ask) put 1 or 2 of these drives on the sata
> connectors for the promise controller without setting it up as a raid?
> ie either 1 drive by itself or 2 drives as a jbod. thanks.

On the download page:

http://www.asus.com.tw/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=P4C800%20Deluxe&Type=All

there are a couple of ATA mode drivers for the 378.
Try experimenting with them. The 20378 doesn't support
ATAPI, so only hard drives are a candidate (it isn't
mentioned in your manual, but is mentioned in the manuals
for other boards using the PDC20378).

I hope, that with your current 2 x 250GB, that the info on
one is backed up on the other (i.e. they aren't full). That
way, you could use one of the drives to experiment with the
Promise controller, knowing that the other disk contains
enough info to restore the disk. Operating large drives like
that with both of them having unique info, without backups, is
a huge gamble. It would take an expensive tape drive or a lot
of DVDs to back up drives like that conveniently, so drive to
drive is a practical alternative.

If you want to use a drive for backups, I recommend disconnecting
the drive when it is not in use. That way, if lightning strikes
the hardware, the disconnected drive might survive with your
backup info. A removable drive tray or an external USB2 or
Firewire enclosure might make that easier. That still doesn't
remove the need to do snapshots to DVD or tape occasionally
(so you can "go-back" if needed).

Even a RAID mirror doesn't protect against all possible hardware
failures, so you do need a backup mechanism that is resilient
to the unexpected.

HTH,
Paul
 

TRENDING THREADS