New RAID-0 Setup

Ward · 22-June-06, 11:12 AM

After hours of trial-and-error last night, I finally got my RAID Array working, and windows installed on it. You know how when you install windows XP, the first thing it says is 'Press F6 to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver'? Apparently there's a bug in that portion of the install that makes it almost impossible to actually install the driver. It can only be installed from a floppy, so I had to dust off the old floppy drive and install it.

Long story short, I now have a 600GB array as my c: drive. The drives are 2 matching Western Digital WD3000 SATA drives. I got them on sale for $109 each, which I thought was a steal. Once I got up and running, I ran HD Tach, which measured a consistent 250MB/s write speed. I'll post the screenshot later. Does anyone else use a RAID setup?

Im_gumby · 22-June-06, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ward


	Does anyone else use a RAID setup?

Many, many fine users here have RAID arrays. Why do you ask?

Dex · 22-June-06, 02:05 PM

RAID0 user reporting in

Id never install my OS to a RAID0 array, I use mine solely for gaming. I gots two 120Gb SATA Seagate drives, gotta love the load times

jonni3 · 22-June-06, 02:14 PM

Yep i run a Raid0 setup using 2 x 160 WD RE hd, you have 600Gb C: man thats gonna slow down some when you put some apps on it, not to mention the defrag time

raptor87 · 22-June-06, 02:18 PM

im running raid 0 with 2 74gb raptors. I have windows installed on that array. I have a read protected floppy in a drive that i plug in just to install windows. I tried using a usb key to install the drivers but could not get it to work

Ward · 24-June-06, 05:07 AM

I was mostly curious if many other people had done it. There is definitly a noticeable increase in performance, and load time is awesome. I actually wanted to install windows on it for fast boot time. I go from POST screen to desktop in about 30 seconds, which is awesome. I know the defrag time is gonna suck ass, but I will just set a scheduled task to run at like 3AM.

raptor87 · 25-June-06, 01:41 AM

I use perfect disk 7 to defrag my RAID it works pretty fast. I read somewhere thats what microsoft uses to defrag thier SQL servers

Ward · 26-June-06, 02:47 AM

I defragged it last night, and it only took about 20 minutes. However, thats with only about 20GB of stuff installed, I realize that as the array gets full it will take longer. Here is the HD Tach screenshot I promised, what do you guys think? I'm sure it would be faster if I were using better drives (like Raptors), but for the price I think this is awesome.

jonni3 · 26-June-06, 02:35 PM

Would have been an idea to create say a 20G partition for XP when you was installing it & then created extra partitions for different things i.e games, music, applications etc .
It's flying at the moment but as more data is put on that 600GB C: drive you're gonna see your access times plumet as it has to search for the relative data.
I'm using O&O defrag V8 pro @ the moment & it works like a charm on the 9

partitons i have

22-June-06, 11:12 AM		#1 (permalink)
Ward Apex Techie II	New RAID-0 Setup After hours of trial-and-error last night, I finally got my RAID Array working, and windows installed on it. You know how when you install windows XP, the first thing it says is 'Press F6 to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver'? Apparently there's a bug in that portion of the install that makes it almost impossible to actually install the driver. It can only be installed from a floppy, so I had to dust off the old floppy drive and install it. Long story short, I now have a 600GB array as my c: drive. The drives are 2 matching Western Digital WD3000 SATA drives. I got them on sale for $109 each, which I thought was a steal. Once I got up and running, I ran HD Tach, which measured a consistent 250MB/s write speed. I'll post the screenshot later. Does anyone else use a RAID setup?

22-June-06, 02:05 PM		#3 (permalink)
Dex Retr-hoe Reviewer	Re: New RAID-0 Setup RAID0 user reporting in Id never install my OS to a RAID0 array, I use mine solely for gaming. I gots two 120Gb SATA Seagate drives, gotta love the load times

22-June-06, 02:14 PM		#4 (permalink)
jonni3 Apex Master Tech Apprentice	Re: New RAID-0 Setup Yep i run a Raid0 setup using 2 x 160 WD RE hd, you have 600Gb C: man thats gonna slow down some when you put some apps on it, not to mention the defrag time

22-June-06, 02:18 PM		#5 (permalink)
raptor87 Apex Advanced Techie	Re: New RAID-0 Setup im running raid 0 with 2 74gb raptors. I have windows installed on that array. I have a read protected floppy in a drive that i plug in just to install windows. I tried using a usb key to install the drivers but could not get it to work

24-June-06, 05:07 AM		#6 (permalink)
Ward Apex Techie II	Re: New RAID-0 Setup I was mostly curious if many other people had done it. There is definitly a noticeable increase in performance, and load time is awesome. I actually wanted to install windows on it for fast boot time. I go from POST screen to desktop in about 30 seconds, which is awesome. I know the defrag time is gonna suck ass, but I will just set a scheduled task to run at like 3AM.

25-June-06, 01:41 AM		#7 (permalink)
raptor87 Apex Advanced Techie	Re: New RAID-0 Setup I use perfect disk 7 to defrag my RAID it works pretty fast. I read somewhere thats what microsoft uses to defrag thier SQL servers

26-June-06, 02:47 AM		#8 (permalink)
Ward Apex Techie II	Re: New RAID-0 Setup I defragged it last night, and it only took about 20 minutes. However, thats with only about 20GB of stuff installed, I realize that as the array gets full it will take longer. Here is the HD Tach screenshot I promised, what do you guys think? I'm sure it would be faster if I were using better drives (like Raptors), but for the price I think this is awesome. Attached Thumbnails

26-June-06, 02:35 PM		#9 (permalink)
jonni3 Apex Master Tech Apprentice	Re: New RAID-0 Setup Would have been an idea to create say a 20G partition for XP when you was installing it & then created extra partitions for different things i.e games, music, applications etc . It's flying at the moment but as more data is put on that 600GB C: drive you're gonna see your access times plumet as it has to search for the relative data. I'm using O&O defrag V8 pro @ the moment & it works like a charm on the 9 partitons i have

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