Raid setup Suggestion With Video

A thing to remember is that the first partitions will be faster than the last ones.

So, let say that you make C:, D:, E:, F:, G:.

Then C: will be the fastest while g: be the slowest.

So, if you are going to edit, then you could use C: for the OS and apps, D: for capture and edit work, E: for multimedia files storage, if you do 3 partitions, as an example. If you do some more, then they could be use as storage with one for music, one for pictures, one for movies and one for small apps or drivers for fast access to them.

My best advice, define your needs, do the number of partition, put the OS on the first, then manage what remain for your work need.

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How much of a speed difference between the partitions are we talking about here? I'm gonna try building my new system later today, and I was thinking of putting the winxp sp2 in a separate partition. How big do you guys think I should make that partition? HDD is a WD 74gb Raptor.

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That 74 GB Raptor is small by now, considering the size of the OS and apps that keep getting bigger.

I could advice you with something like 50 gigs for the OS and what remain for what you want to do.

A better setup would be the Raptor used without any partition, for the OS, apps, game and everything that is not personnal data. I woud then get a SATA seagate 160 gigs for your personnaél data and multimedia file. They are now really affordable, got one for 110$ in canada...

What do you intend to use your computer for?

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Gaming for me, plus storage for pictures, mp3, as well as just browsing. I plan on getting another drive for storage, just need to wait for a lil more money. Someone in this forum had suggested a partition for the OS, but it was something like 12gb. I can't remember exactly.

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12 gb definitively not enough. If you put windows, your apps, your games, then you will run out of space fast. At minimum, I would say 40 gigs. The OS partition should hold everything that will have to be reinstalled, in case you have to reinstall Windows. You cannot backup your apps, they have to be reinstalled, same for your games. Even if you install your game on a different partition, and you end up reinstalling Windows, then you will have to reinstall the game anyway, doesn't it? Your save game, pictures or mp3 should go on the other partition, as it wont need to be formatted if you reinstall windows.. They are only data.

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I went to Fry's today and picked up a WD SATA 160gb HDD for $119.99 US, and I sent in $50 in rebates to WD, so $69.99 after rebates, not bad. And BTW, I thought that if you partitioned the HDD it's better to keep the OS separate from evrything else, for xp several peeps I know have recommended a 10gb partition for winxp sp2.

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I finally got a working FD to make a driver boot disk. I encountered a problem after partitioning my sata drives in dynamic order. I tried to instal windows and the system does not recognize the drives anymore. So you can not install windows as a Raid formatt? And Now with the above mentioned notes I am assuming not to do so right? How would you install your OS if you only have 2 drives set up in Raid style? (How do you put the OS on just one partition/One disk of this formatt?).
When I did all the partitions, I was then force to delete them in order to install the OS. After installing it I then Could not partition the drives again. WTF?

It is good to have the OS AND APPS separate from everything else, which mostly mean your precious DATA!!

And 10 gigs is definitively too small for the OS and and apps...

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How to make something complicated from something simple..

First, I dont understand your question.. or, it is a question?

So, I suggest you first read the RAID fact to know first, what is RAID. Then, once done, why dont you read the HDD FAQ. And go to the motherboard forum and read the motherboard FAQ. This will save us lot of time.

Then, I would read your manual to know what motherboard you have and what chipset is on it. from there, you will now know if your board support RAID from the chipset controller or by a third party controller, as Promise, Sil, Ite,..

Your manual should contain in fact a section to setup a RAID array. You could read that too.

When you'll have done those basics steps of self learning, you should:

1- know what kind of controller my motherboard use
2- know what drivers does it need to set up a RAID array.
3- what is a RAID array
4- what is a partition
5- how install the OS on a RAID partition.

And finally, you should try to reformulate your question to actually look like a question. And you'll be able to post detail from your system so it will help us to diagnose the problem better instead of just guessing.







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Ok, I just remember you were the original poster from this tread.. I thought it was Wraithfire. Sorry.

But you should definitively read the FAQs, because there is obviously something you need to know about RAID. I reread your last post but still cannot figure wht you want to explain there.



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Sorry my posts are not clear. Sometimes I have a hard time discerning a question as being vague comments or questions. Acutally, I have to spend some time reviewing what I did becuase honestly I can't remember the last few hours of what I did 2 days ago. I just know that I was using MaxBlast partioning (from maxtor cd) and Xp's Partioning system to do this. The end result after successfully making a Raid0 (2*250gb drives became one ~480GB Drive), was either having windows w/no partioning or having the partions that I wanted without being able to even install windows. I'll try doing this again in the next few days and maybe it will go correctly. I was trying to do all types of customizing block/cluster size according to my partion contents (ie: apps&OS/small cluster videos/large). This could have been trying to tackle to much at once for a beginner.

Once the RAID array is done, you have to press F6 to install drivers for the RAID controller, with a floppy disk.

When you press F6, nothing will happen. Install will continue and then, it will ask for the floppy. You may have to load 1 or 2 drivers, but load all that apply to your OS.

Then after that, your controller will be recognize by Windows and you will be able to partition, format and install the OS on your array.

Have a look at your manual, it should show up the step to do that.



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"I hope I didn't screw this thread up in anyway..."


Damn.. I reply to the wrong person...

Anyway, he will get thru if he understand the basic of RAID...

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