Raid 1 Array question

[jamers99]

I'm considering setting up a Raid 1 Array. Does anyone know for sure if I can still run additional Hard Drives outside the array?

i.e. Drive 1 750gb (part of RAID 1)
Drive 2 750gb (part of RAID 1)
Drive 3 500gb (not part of RAID)

 

[r_manic]

I'm not that familiar with RAID setups, but maybe this FAQ may help?

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/43125-32-raid

 

[kyeana]

To my knowledge yes you can run a third drive (or more) outside of the raid array.

 

[Paperdoc]

Almost always, yes.

A lot of people use the software RAID system built into the mobo BIOS on systems with RAID included in the mobo's chipset. If that is what you plan, I encourage you to read all the documentation on how your system works. If it in not already on your hard drive or on a DVD disk supplied with your system. go to your mobo maker's website or to the website of the chipset on your mobo and find the RAID manuals.

In most systems when you specify in BIOS that you want to set up a RAID array with two or more HDD's already in your machine, one for the first things you will do through the menu system is identify which specific devices will be included in the RAID array. By default, none are, and you must tell it. Any you do not put into the RAID array will be left as stand-alone devices and handled that way by the BIOS. There's no problem with this - it all works. In your case, when you are done you will find in My Computer one drive of 750 GB (which is actually the RAID1 array) plus one more drive of 500 GB. Actually, because of the way that M$ measures the term "GB" and because of directory structure overhead, the drive sizes will appear to be around 680 GB and 450 GB.)