asked on

confuse about Raid configuration

I need your assistance with this one I was asked to troubleshoot a booting problem with this computer model http://www.velocitymicro.com/dualx.php

the problem was that the computers should not boot into windows XP at all I should only get to the Windows splash screen for a minute and then the computer reboot after little while the computer should only boot into a black

I did some troubleshooting and determined that the memory was fine the CPU was okay and also the motherboard

so it came down to the hard drives I noticed that this computer has some type of Raid configuration which I am not too familiar with this computer come with three hard drives a 250 gig hard drive and the other two are 80 gig hard drive I use my hard drive utilities to find if any of those hard drive was damage or corrupt I noticed the middle hard drive was damaged so I disable this hard drive within the Bios

I then run the system restore CD and I was able to login into Windows without a problem

now I need to replace this hard drive but I have never done any type of Raid configuration I am not even sure what type will raid configuration this computer came with

so my question is as follow what is the proper way to replace this hard drive and retain the Raid configuration

thank you for reading all the way through this question

I appreciate any help

Member_2_2473503

If there was any RAID it should have been only the 2 80 GB drives and could be a MIRROR, if this is the case when on drive goes bad the other is still good as they are mirrored coppies of eachother. The only other RAID it coul have been is striped and if that was the case the other drive in the RAID would have no usable data on it. The reason I think the larger drive was not part of the RAID is a RAID is limited by the smallest drive.

During the boot process you should get a prompt to enter the array manager you need to go in here and see if any RAID was configured.

natcom

ASKER

thank you I will definitely look into that according to this site here http://www.velocitymicro.com/wizard.php?iid=32 it is a Raid 0 stripe which I'm not even sure what it is or what it's supposed to do

Member_2_2473503

RAID 0 striped

DATA
/\
HALF1 / \
/ \ HALF 2
HD1 HD2

the data is stored on each drive but only half of the data is on each drive. If one disk fails the data is gone

RAID 1 MIRROR

DATA
| |
| |
HD1 HD2

The data is stored on both drives at the same time and all the data is on each drive, if one drive fails the other takes over and can rebuild a replacment for the failed drive

Go here for excelent info on RAID
http://www.acnc.com/04_01_05.html

Also how old is the system, looks like it was coustley, is it under warenty? Contact the manufacturer.

natcom

ASKER

thank you for your excellent explanation this is a new system the manufacturer is sending me to replace this hard drive it appears they don't want to replace the entire system just for this one problem I would have no

problem replacing this drive if it wasn't a raid configuration for me this is the first time dealing with the raid configurations maybe I should build a Raid configuration are home to feel more confidence

after your information it appears that I would have no problem setting this up

which a raid configuration you recommend for home users ?

natcom

ASKER

I mean at home :)

Member_2_2473503

Depends on what you want and what your controler can support

Striped for speed
Mirrored for reliability

natcom

ASKER

one more quick question regarding this subject the 2 Hard Drives they supposed to appear within windows XP as 1 Hard Drive ?

Member_2_2473503

yes if they are in a RAID config they will show as one HD

natcom

ASKER

do you think that the system restore image for this computer model will already have the Raid drivers already configure so that all I have to do is replace the hard drive ?

I'm asking all these questions because I don't have to go there in till tomorrow and the more information at can get the faster I would do the job

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Member_2_2473503

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natcom

ASKER

ok thanks

compfixer101

No comment has been added to this question in more than 21 days, so it is now classified as abandoned.

I will leave the following recommendation for this question in the Cleanup topic area:
Accept: ebjers {http:#15977339}

Any objections should be posted here in the next 4 days. After that time, the question will be closed.

compfixer101
EE Cleanup Volunteer