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RAID set up on Server 2003

997 views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  SepiasSoul 
#1 ·
I recently came across a few old hard drives taht I want to put into my server for some added storage space. All of them are 40GB, 37.6 actually, and just putting them in would be a pain to keep them all sorted and clean. I was wondering if there was a way to RAID the drives, I have 4 of them, separate from the OS. I prefer to keep my OS on its own HD just incase the drive fails so I don't loose my data. This also means that if the OS drive goes, I need to have the RAID drives still readable by the re-installed OS. If anyone knows of a way to do this please let me know.

Thanks alot,
Sepias
 
#2 ·
You can connect them in jbod array which will give you one drive letter with 160 gig OR you could use two of them in a raid0 array. JBOD will span the drives ie you will have the total of 4 drives or 160 gig. Raid0 would be 80 gig; you could make two of these. In any case, I would have some type of backup plan. If one disk of a raid0 array dies, you loose everything on the array. If one disk of a jbod array dies, you may or may not loose data. It depends on if it was split. Generally in jobd the first drive is filled then the next one and so on.

Note onboard type of controllers often do not support jbod. You need a real raid card for this.
 
#3 ·
This is all running off of a K8N neo board, I'm not sure what its particular raid system on it is though. If I can go with the JBOD setup, would this still allow for the OS to stay on its separate drive? Basically what I want is the four 40gig HDs to be raided together and the 20gig OS drive to be separate. Also, how would I go about setting it up? Is their a windows based program that will allow me to do it, or do I need to drop in my Server 2003 cd and set it up from there with a floppy disk?

Thanks,
Sepias
 
#4 ·
That board has SATA RAID capability but if you want a PATA RAID you will need to put a card in it. And yes, you can RAID the four drives and keep your data there but if it were me, I'd split the drives for redundancy or back up often. When you stripe you are at twice the risk of losing data. With JBOD,as crjdriver says, "If one disk of a jbod array dies, you may or may not loose data."
 
#5 ·
I'm trying to avoid dropping more money into this server so I don't think I will buying a RAID card... unless they have gotten alot cheaper than when I looked last. I get these HD's for next to nothing from people who are buying new PC's. What would the possibilities of building a pre-RAIDed external enclosure for them? I've seen similar things done before but I have no idea as to the cost or relyability of them.

Thanks again for the input,
Sepias
 
#6 ·
You setup raid in the raid bios OR with raid management software. Since the os will not be on the array, you can use raid management software. If your controller uses it, then you will download this software from the mfg's site.
 
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