RAID Partitions

uther

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Okay, I looked in the FAQ and it tells me how to setup my RAID devices, but one thing it glosses over is how to setup the partition(s). Is it better to just create one massive partition across both HDs, or do I want to create a small partition for the OS (Win XP)? Also, any recommendations on cluster size for someone that plans on using the system mostly for work (Word, Excel, etc.), Internet, gaming, and ripping? Here are my specs:

GA-8PE667
(2) WD800JBs (8MB cache)
On-board Promise RAID in RAID 0 config
 

HammerBot

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Setting up partitions on RAID is no different than on any other harddisk. Your RAID0 array will appear as a single 160GB drive. Partition it as you would with any other drive.

I have 4 partitions on my RAID0 (2 pcs. WD800JB):
Boot C: 5 GiB
Programs: D: 45 GiB
Data1: E: 50 GiB
Data2: F: 50 GiB

<i><b>Engineering is the fine art of making what you want from things you can get</b></i>
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HammerBot

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Nope. 2*80 GB = 160 GB. However, in RAID1 (mirroring) total capacity would be 80 GB

<i><b>Engineering is the fine art of making what you want from things you can get</b></i>
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uther

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Yea, I realized that after I posted. Brain f$rt on me! By the way, what tools do you recommend for performance testing when determining the stripe and cluster size?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by uther on 11/30/02 01:54 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

HammerBot

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A little of everything :smile: . For example <A HREF="http://www.xbitlabs.com/storage/fc-test/" target="_new">FC test</A>. Sisoft sandra, although some claims its not good for RAID, but if you get reproductive results (only small random variations when testing the same setup twice) you can always use it to make relative benchmarks (comparison of different settings).
Just note that some programs like HD Tach tests the drives raw performance without considering the filesystem. So changing clustersize won't show up in those programs.

<i><b>Engineering is the fine art of making what you want from things you can get</b></i>
<A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=655" target="_new">My systems</A>