configuring raid 1

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by ITgirl, Jun 30, 2009.

  1. ITgirl

    ITgirl Private E-2

    Hi,

    Do you have to use the same size hard drive for a RAID 1 configuration. I have one 160GB drive and a 500GB drive. I have already loaded WinXP on the 160 GB drive. Can I add the 500GB drive to the chassis and setup RAID 1 between the two drives?

    Thanks in advance for your help.
     
  2. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    You can but downside is that you will be limited to the size of the smaller drive so your 500GB drive effectively becomes a 160GB drive (so total array size before formatting would be 160+160=320GB loosing you 340GB of space), TBH I would never advise setting up Raid in any forms with drives of differening size or different makes and models, I much prefer to setup with identical drives.

    If you need backups (which Raid 1's job is) of the main 160GB HDD then look to use the 500GB as a slave/backup drive and find software like Acronis True Image to mirror/image your main C: drive at set periods, I prefer Acronis but Macrium Reflect is free and works similar to Acronis.
     
  3. 2-Bit-Geek

    2-Bit-Geek Sergeant

    I use a 320GB SATA II main HDD & I have another 160GB SATAII HDD which I only plug in when I want to backup, I belive it to be the safest way because It is formatted with no OS (so no registry to screw up) & it's only on when backuing up so it should last... forever :-D

    :major2-Bit-Geej:major
     

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