Able to move my 2 harddrives in raid 0 to another PC w/o wiping?

[mechwr]

I just built my PC and my 2x 1TB Caviar Black is in raid 0, this is my first time setting up raid, and some questions came to mind.

Q:If I have to wipe my drives when I raid 0 them, will I have to wipe them again if I decide to build a new computer in the future and use the same harddrives?

Q2:On my bootscreen it shows my raid 0 setup, is there a way to disable/enable to show this to reduce boot time?

 

[Paperdoc]

There is no widely-used "standard" for how RAID controllers handle the details of data storage on a pair of HDD's. This means that, as a general rule, when you try to move a pair of RAID0 HDD's from one machine to another, it is likely the new machine's controllers can NOT read or use the data on the old HDD's. You are left with only one option - wipe the HDD's clean and establish a new RAID0 array. Of course, this also means you lose everything on the drives. So, you MUST make a reliable complete backup of the original RAID0 array in the old machine BEFORE trying the move.

Now, sometimes it does work anyway. The odds of success are much better IF the RAID controller chip in the new machine is from the same chip maker as the old machine. That is because SOME RAID chip controller makers keep using exactly the same control algorithms, so their newer chips do everything the same as the older ones. HOWEVER, not all chip makers do this, so it's still a big risk. EVEN IF this is the case, there is also one thing that must be done correctly. In a RAID0 array, one disk is NOT the same as the other. So when the two are connected to the mobo ports, the "first" one (say, the one connected to SATA port #1) MUST be connected to the "first" position on the new mobo. This, too, is a bit of a shot in the dark sometimes, so it adds to the risk of failure.

Bottom line is that, although you MIGHT get it to work OK, you really should plan for it to fail. Make sure you have a good complete backup before starting. And then, also make sure you VERIFY that the backup is good and can actually restore everything to a new RAID0 array.

 

[mechwr]

Thanks for the incredible information. Thumbs up to you sir. Any answers on Q2?

 

[Paperdoc]

I don't know about Q2. Usually there are some options you can set in BIOS to shorten boot time, but I don't know whether there are some related to RAID prompts. If there are, you should find some info in your mobo manual about those BIOS setting options.

 

[mechwr]

Best answer selected by mechwr.

 

[Dreadfull]

I just built my PC and my 2x 1TB Caviar Black is in raid 0, this is my first time setting up raid, and some questions came to mind.

Q:If I have to wipe my drives when I raid 0 them, will I have to wipe them again if I decide to build a new computer in the future and use the same harddrives?

Q2:On my bootscreen it shows my raid 0 setup, is there a way to disable/enable to show this to reduce boot time?

Regarding Q2: What's your MB manufacturer ?
On my ASUS M5A97 EVO with UEFI BIOS I have an option called "Option ROM Messages" (in the BOOT tab/category) wich hides the RAID setup info. Default is "Force BIOS". To hide it, change to "Keep Current". On other boards it could be "Fast boot" / "Quiet boot" etc.