Raid 0 + Raid 1?

Some motherboards have a chipset that let you create RAID arrays with the help of a special disk driver which is loaded by the operating system. For example, boards that include the Intel ICH10 chipset have this capability, and when you install a recent OS such as Vista or Windows 7, the install disk detects the chipset and automatically loads the RAID drivers for you.

Look for the documentation for your system or motherboard for information as to whether your computer has this capability.

Be aware that RAID 0 doubles your chance of loosing data due to a disk failure, so its important to have a backup strategy (actually, it's ALWAYS important to have a backup strategy, even with RAID 1, because of all the risks to your data that RAID cannot protect against).

You should not need to buy any seperate controller if you wish to use RAID0/RAID1. The onboard ICHxR controller is often faster than hardware RAID configs thanks to RAM writeback.

Never use RAID to enhance the reliability of your data; only do this is you *truely* know what you are doing, or do as i recommend and focus on keeping proper backups instead. This will protect you against much more dangers than RAID ever can, including filesystem corruption.

I haven't purchased the mobo yet. What exactly do I look for in the specifications to know if it has the raid controller? Also, what medium do you recommend for doing backups?

I'd recommend an external hard drive Esata for speed .. that you connect only for backups then disconnect.

I've had the best luck with intel's raid chipsets

in this case the ich9r or ich10r are whats being used now.

Well, for example here's the web page for the Asus P6T motherboard. The 2nd bullet point in the list of features says "Intel® X58/ ICH10R chipset". Any current motherboard that uses the ICH10R chipset *should* support RAID.

As far as backup media is concerned, it's very hard to beat the cost and convenience of external hard drives using either USB or eSATA interfaces.

RAID is not a backup. Lets all say this together, "RAID is not a good way to back up my files. If I use a RAID array as a backup, I am most likely at some point going to lose all my files." This is not opinion, this is a fact.

But, to find out if a board supports a certain type of RAID configuration, you have look at the specs. Many boards do support RAID, but they do not always support all types of arrays, be sure to read the fine print under the controller specs to see what kind of arrays the controller will support!

Thanks for the info everyone, I'll go with an external drive to back up my most important data. I'm curious though, what is the point of Raid 1 if not to protect yourself from data loss?

RAID 1 is to keep you from having a single point of failure. if your RAID controller supports hot swap, you can replace the failed HDD and keep on going as if nothing happend.

i would suggest not using RAID unless you know what you are doing. if you want to learn go ahead and try it. just don't rely on it to keep you data safe.

The purpose of RAID 1 is not to protect data, it's to minimize downtime. In a server environment, a disk failure takes the server offline and results in dozens or hundreds of workers who can't do their jobs. That's what RAID 1 prevents. But it doesn't prevent those same workers from accidentally deleting their files (or many other risks to data) - that's what backups are for.