RAID 0 setup

[crobb100]

Hi-

I have an Asus P4PE with a 120 GB HD, EIDE. My MB has a built-in RAID controller (Promise Technologies' PDC20376 SATA 150 RAID Controller),and SATA controller. I want to get an additional 120 GB SATA drive and create a RAID 0 setup. I understand that I have to reformat my present drive and set up the RAID from scratch. I would like to use my original EIDE drive and the new SATA drive to create the array.

How can I best preserve the data on my present drive? I have Norton Ghost, and a home net setup. Will I have to install the OS (Win XP Pro) first, and then somehow add in my original programs? I have gone over all the RAID FAQs and either have info overload or I don't specifically see what I'm looking for. I have seen some references to setting up a single partition for the OS, so as to be able to boot if the RAID fails. ??-is this outside of the array?
I can use my original IDE HDD and a SATA for the RAID-RAID on this MB has 3 options:

1. One parallel ATA HDD to PRI_RAID1 connector and one SATA HDD to either of the two SATA connectors, using separate parallel or serial ATA connectors.

2. One SATA drive to each serial ATA connector using separate SATA cables.

3. One SATA HDD to PRI_RAID1 connector and one SATA HDD to either of the two SATA connectors. (Although I don't know how you connect a SATA HDD to the PRI_RAID1 connector-it looks like an IDE connector to me).

So what it comes down to is:

How do I set up RAID 0 and place my existing drive C data on it?

Thanks!



CoolerMaster ATCS Al case
Asus P4PE 533 mhz
Pentium 4 3.06 GHz
1 GB OCZ PC2700
120 GB Maxtor 7200 RPM 8 MB cache
Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128 mb

 

[arkus]

Ok, I'll take a stab at this.. to recap, is this what you want to do?

1) Setup a RAID 0 array using 2* 120gb drives.
2) Get your data off one of the existing 120gb and put it on the RAID 0 array.

If it is, then it could be messy. I don't know of any way you could create an array with both drives without losing the data on your existing drive. You must setup an array befoe you partition and format it (in effect once it's a RAID 0 array it's seen by windows as just one big drive). When creating an array you will get the "all data will be lost" message.

I guess you could backup to another source (CD, DVD, a h/d that isn't going to be used in the array). Setup the array and then copy it over after, that would be my preference.

As for setting up the RAID 0 array with your channels on your mobo...

It should be as straightforward as reading the mobo manual and changing the relevant BIOS settings. My preference would be to use 2 SATA drives or 2 IDE drives rather than mix both types (just for simplicity) but I guess you can't do that.

I think option one is the only feasible solution for you.

PIV2.6|IS7-G|1GbDDR266|R9700Pro|SonicFury5.1|4*36GbRaptor
2*120GbCaviar|Highpoint1640|CRW-F1|GC7000|460w EG465AX-VE(G)
ATC210cAX-1|1451Visionmaster|AltecLansing5100|WinXPSP1|DX9.0b