adding a hardware raid

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup (More info?)

Like to know if I can add a HW RAID (1) to an existing system. Currently the
PC is a Windows 200 Pro, it has 1x ATA HDD (boot an system drive) that I want
to mirror and it also has 2x 73GB SCSI HDD and 1x 36GB SCSI HDD Data drive).
The client has lost one 36GB HDD and this is why they are looking to put some
redundancy in the PC. I'm purchasing a ATA RAID card for the ATA drive and a
SCSI RAID for the SCSI HDD's. We want only to mirror for redundancy. Is it
too late? e.g should this have been done when the PC was built? If no what
procedure besides backup should I follow? Can I create a ghost image and
restore this after the RAID card is installed and drives configured? Any
docs on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
The OS is Windows 2000 Pro (they are doing a peer-to-peer network).

Thanks

 

[dl]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup (More info?)

The raid card, should have instructions these are likely to be specific to
the card, and should be followed if you wish to build an array from an
existing 'in use' drive. Or the manu.web site will have them.

With a clean sys its only a question of pluging in the drives, ensure you
have raid drivers on a floopy, before Format/Partion etc Win. during the win
installation process you have F6 at the prompt to install the raid drivers.
On rebooting there will be a key combo to enter the raid setup utility, to
build your array

NB
However their , *may* be compatibility issues with installing two raid cards
you *need* to check with the manu.

NB
A mirror raid is NOT an alternative to a backup regime.
I had a raid hd fail, I was only aware when win started behaving oddly. I
used the hd manu.checking utility to identify the faulty drive. When I
booted back up with the working drive 2 months of data , and a couple of app
installations were missing. Niether the raid utility or anything else gave
any indication of a problem. Logs were all OK. I restored from backups

Low end raid cards are unlikely to have the ability, if a hd is failing, or
failed, to detect which hd is the problem

"jlmiller" <jlmiller@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:584C0AA9-D232-453A-84E0-78EBDF9A86A7@microsoft.com...
> Like to know if I can add a HW RAID (1) to an existing system. Currently
the
> PC is a Windows 200 Pro, it has 1x ATA HDD (boot an system drive) that I
want
> to mirror and it also has 2x 73GB SCSI HDD and 1x 36GB SCSI HDD Data
drive).
> The client has lost one 36GB HDD and this is why they are looking to put
some
> redundancy in the PC. I'm purchasing a ATA RAID card for the ATA drive
and a
> SCSI RAID for the SCSI HDD's. We want only to mirror for redundancy. Is
it
> too late? e.g should this have been done when the PC was built? If no
what
> procedure besides backup should I follow? Can I create a ghost image and
> restore this after the RAID card is installed and drives configured? Any
> docs on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
> The OS is Windows 2000 Pro (they are doing a peer-to-peer network).
>
> Thanks

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup (More info?)

RAID is not an alternative to good frequent backups.

I was called in on a job where the computer was "beeping".
The computer had mirrored system disks that also had the
application programs and the data on them. Turns out both
hard drives went bad at the same time and the backup
procedure although being followed was no good. The tape
drive hadn't been plugged in for four years. So the only
good backups were four years old (2001)!
The best senario is a smart diligent system admin. The
configuration of the computer just makes his/her life a little
easier or harder.

Lately I would recommend one system disk on PATA with
a good GHOST copy and the data should go on a hot
swappable RAID 10 array and pray the controller doesn't go
bad or do daily backups.

later,
charles.....


"DL" <dl@spoofmail> wrote in message
news:ONRN7wdnFHA.2852@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> The raid card, should have instructions these are likely to be specific to
> the card, and should be followed if you wish to build an array from an
> existing 'in use' drive. Or the manu.web site will have them.
>
> With a clean sys its only a question of pluging in the drives, ensure you
> have raid drivers on a floopy, before Format/Partion etc Win. during the
win
> installation process you have F6 at the prompt to install the raid
drivers.
> On rebooting there will be a key combo to enter the raid setup utility, to
> build your array
>
> NB
> However their , *may* be compatibility issues with installing two raid
cards
> you *need* to check with the manu.
>
> NB
> A mirror raid is NOT an alternative to a backup regime.
> I had a raid hd fail, I was only aware when win started behaving oddly. I
> used the hd manu.checking utility to identify the faulty drive. When I
> booted back up with the working drive 2 months of data , and a couple of
app
> installations were missing. Niether the raid utility or anything else gave
> any indication of a problem. Logs were all OK. I restored from backups
>
> Low end raid cards are unlikely to have the ability, if a hd is failing,
or
> failed, to detect which hd is the problem
>
> "jlmiller" <jlmiller@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:584C0AA9-D232-453A-84E0-78EBDF9A86A7@microsoft.com...
> > Like to know if I can add a HW RAID (1) to an existing system.
Currently
> the
> > PC is a Windows 200 Pro, it has 1x ATA HDD (boot an system drive) that I
> want
> > to mirror and it also has 2x 73GB SCSI HDD and 1x 36GB SCSI HDD Data
> drive).
> > The client has lost one 36GB HDD and this is why they are looking to put
> some
> > redundancy in the PC. I'm purchasing a ATA RAID card for the ATA drive
> and a
> > SCSI RAID for the SCSI HDD's. We want only to mirror for redundancy.
Is
> it
> > too late? e.g should this have been done when the PC was built? If no
> what
> > procedure besides backup should I follow? Can I create a ghost image
and
> > restore this after the RAID card is installed and drives configured?
Any
> > docs on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
> > The OS is Windows 2000 Pro (they are doing a peer-to-peer network).
> >
> > Thanks
>
>