Question

Disk Configuration: Mixing RAID and stand-alone disks

Asked by: gjok

Hi,
I'm very new to RAID and SATA and need to know what HDD configurations are possible.
I'm Using SATA disks ONLY.

Example 1: using 3 SATA Disks
Can I have my O/S on a single stand-alone SATA for my C: Drive
and a 2-disk RAID1 array for my D: drive

Example 2: using 4 SATA Disks
Can I have my O/S on 2-disk RAID1 array for my C: Drive
and another 2-disk RAID1 array for my D: drive

The computer in question is an HP Proliant ML110 G5 with 6 SATA ports,  but I assume all PCs are the same???

Thanks.

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Asked On
2009-11-03 at 02:36:26ID24866590
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Disk Configuration: Mixing RAID and stand-alone disks

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Computer Hard Drives

,

Computer Servers

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Answers

 

by: NetcraftPosted on 2009-11-03 at 03:29:29ID: 25727830

The possible configurations are here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

I would suggest using two volumes, one for the system, one for data, but since your ProLiant only supports 5 harddisks it seems, you would be limited to using
- 1 RAID-1 and a 3-drive RAID-5 (does the ProLiant support RAID-5?)
- 2 RAID-1's

The ProLiant has 6 SATA ports, so you could try to use the SATA-port of the DVD-Drive to allow for 6 drives. This will give you more flexibility.

I just built a system with 1 Velociraptor systemdisk and 4 disks in a RAID-10 configuration. RAID-10 is i.m.h.o. the fastest access for data. It will also store my Virtual Machines. It turned out that one of the four drives was defective, so I ended up with a RAID-5 configuration through software (Windows 2008 R2).

Now you figure out what you need, performance, space, reliability, and to what degree.

Good luck.

 

by: gjokPosted on 2009-11-03 at 04:11:08ID: 25728117

Many thanks for your advice, but I specifically need to know if the Examples given in my question are possible.

I will only be using RAID 1, and I will hopefully using the configuration descibed in either Example-1 or Example-2.

 

by: noxchoPosted on 2009-11-03 at 04:36:17ID: 25728281

Example 1: using 3 SATA Disks
Can I have my O/S on a single stand-alone SATA for my C: Drive
and a 2-disk RAID1 array for my D: drive
-Yes, as far as I know Gigabyte MOBOs have 4 + 2 SATA connectors. You can build RAID of two drives and plus connect additional drive that will not take part in RAID.

Example 2: using 4 SATA Disks
Can I have my O/S on 2-disk RAID1 array for my C: Drive
and another 2-disk RAID1 array for my D: drive
-Again yes. If your BIOS and peripheral devices do support two RAIDs then easily. For my phenom based machine (gigabyte mobo) I am able to create two RAIDs of 4 disks. Did that yesterday for test purposes. In Windows Disk Management there were 2 drives shown instead of 4.

 

by: gjokPosted on 2009-11-03 at 05:26:55ID: 25728649

Thanks noxcho,
What about phyical cabling?

My mobo has 6 SATA ports.
If I went with Example-1, would the following physical config be acceptable - in theory:

SATA Port 1: Drive C: (Stand-alone HDD)
SATA Port 2: Drive D: (RAID1 Disk1)
SATA Port 3: Drive D: (RAID1 Disk2)
SATA Port 4:
SATA Port 5: CD/DVD
SATA Port 6:

Or, do the RAID disks need to be connected first, like this:
SATA Port 1: Drive D: (RAID1 Disk1)
SATA Port 2: Drive D: (RAID1 Disk2)
SATA Port 3: Drive C: (Stand-alone HDD)

 

by: noxchoPosted on 2009-11-03 at 05:41:29ID: 25728785

I think both should work though I did not test that myself. In RAID configuration utility you see which disks to set into RAID so possibly this should give you an option to separate first disk as standalone. But thin is just a theory.

 

by: gjokPosted on 2009-11-03 at 07:16:31ID: 31649324

Thanks noxcho !

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