Tech Support Guy banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

RAID Configure

908 views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  zx10guy 
#1 ·
Hello,
I am new with Windows and Server.
I have HP Server with 9 HDD ..
Here is my questions,
With those HDDs(9) attached on Server
1-What RAID Level that we always use for OS Setup?How many Hard Drive should we run this raid?
2-What RAID Level we do on DATA? How many Hard Drive should we run this raid?
 
#2 ·
Well it depends on what you require out of it and what you will be running on it.

For the OS I would do no less than RAID-1 with two drives. For data, do you need one or more arrays? Are you using any software that has specific recommendations or needs? You may want one or two or even more arrays, RAID-5,6, 10, or 50.

I'd do some reading on each and determine what suites your needs the best. Maybe start here: http://www.acnc.com/raid
 
#3 ·
Thanks for your great resource and explanation. Will read this.

Additional Question:
I read some topic regarding how to know our Server has Raid Configured or no?
I read this topic, they pointed that, to know raid is configure or no, we can go Disk Management and if the HDD are all basic, mean we have no RIAD.
But I wonder that, My HP Server, I did configured Raid with HP smart start,
but When i go disk management in Windows, I saw all Disk are basic,
So will we need two steps to make RAID Congired?
1 is with HP smart start and second is with Windows ?
I am sorry about poor explaining.
Best regards,

best regards,
 
#4 ·
You'd only use Disk Management if you created dynamic disks with Windows, if you use proper hardware RAID controllers than Disk Management will have no idea about them and they appear as single basic disks. Using Windows to setup dynamic disks is not the ideal way to do it, not if you have a powerful server with much better hardware RAID controller.

Your HP server should come with software to allow you to monitor and manage the array called HP Array Configuration Utility.

Using the HP Smart Start disc or the firmware based utility at boot up is the correct way to create at least the main RAID array for the OS. Any additional array can be created the same way or by using the Windows based HP ACU program I mentioned above.
 
#5 ·
Rob's responses are spot on.

To add some additional points of consideration. The size of the drives will also determine the type of RAID you want to build. The larger the drives, the slower the rebuild time when a drive does fail out of a RAID volume. The current rule of thumb is if you're dealing with drives larger than around 2 TBs, you should run RAID 6. The dual parity will provide greater protection against a double drive failure. The drawback is less utilization of available disk capacity for actual data storage.

Another consideration is what Rob alluded to. Your application requirements will also dictate the RAID type you run. If you need high IOPS (I/Os per second), you would run say a RAID 10. If you want redundancy but want to maximize the amount of available storage, you would run a RAID 5. If your requirements are a mix of performance and maximum storage capacity, then a RAID 50 would be something to consider.

Finally, you should always leave one drive in an group of drives attached to a RAID controller as a hot spare. A hot spare is a drive which just sits doing nothing until there is a disk failure. The RAID controller will automatically start the rebuild process to restore the RAID volume by moving data that was on the failed disk to the hot spare. Because none of us will be always sitting at our desk staring at the status of the server, this is invaluable.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top