If I have 3 HDDs in RAID5 and then buy a new one, would it be possible to "add" the new one to the raid?
Or would I have to format all of them and set it up again?
Or would I have to format all of them and set it up again?
RAID comes in many different forms, the most common for home users being RAID 1 or RAID 0.Aapje wrote:
Huh... I always thought the HDD's would share the information / data over the HDD's thus making it impossible to remove one? Don't know that for sure though but I'd assume not
Because from what I've heard is that if one of your drives in RAID stops working you'll lose all of your information since it's shared?
RAID 1 is mirroring - i.e all the data on 1 hard drive is also put on the second hard drive. This is done for backup, so if one HD fails, the other one still contains all the information.
RAID 0 is striping- i.e. for 1 chunk of data, half of it is put on 1 hard drive, the other half on the other. THis is done for speed, so data can be read / written "twice" as quickly. however if one hard drive fails, your fucked.
Then you come onto the other versions of RAIDs which I don't know too much about- I believe RAID 5, 7, 10 and 11 are options, and these (IIRC), combine striping and mirroring, to give you more speed, and backup, generally used in businesses. If one hard drive fails when using either of these formats, RAID can work out what was lost on the other drive by looking at what is still on the remaining drive, and will recreate the information. If however, 2 drives fail at any one time, I believe you are fucked again.
I also think that another difference between RAID 1 & 0, and RAID 5, 7, 10 and 11, is that RAID 1 & 0 can be done using a minimum of 2 drives, whereas the others need at least 3 drives.
As for the OP, Jenspm, I remember when Chuy was trying to add another drive to his RAID array on gibson without formatting, it didn't work, but im unsure if it is actually possible...
Last edited by Titch2349 (2008-07-20 01:43:24)
AFAIK it depends on the raid controller. Some can add drives later, most can't. At least for consumer / SOHO level, it won't work
once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.
I assume the raid controller depends on the mobo?max wrote:
AFAIK it depends on the raid controller. Some can add drives later, most can't. At least for consumer / SOHO level, it won't work
It's an Asus P5E-V HDMI fyi.
raid controller: Intel ICH9R
Last edited by Jenspm (2008-07-20 03:24:54)
yeah, I really doubt that it's possible. It can never hurt to take a look at it thoughJenspm wrote:
I assume the raid controller depends on the mobo?max wrote:
AFAIK it depends on the raid controller. Some can add drives later, most can't. At least for consumer / SOHO level, it won't work
It's an Asus P5E-V HDMI fyi.
once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.
hrm, according to google, I can do "dynamic raid resizing" if my drives are dynamic.
Anyone care to translate to a slightly more noobish language? Mostly the difference between a dynamic and normal drive.
Anyone care to translate to a slightly more noobish language? Mostly the difference between a dynamic and normal drive.
Ok... here goes.
Now, nested levels. There are when you combine different standard raid levels to combine benefits. For example, RAID0 is fast but has no redundancy, but RAID1 is slow(er) and had redudnacy - i know, lets combine them an make RAID1+0 or RAID10 (a stripe of mirrors) - not to be confused with RAID 0+1. Nested levels are 0+1, 10, 0+3, 30, 100, 50 and 60.
A Basic drive is (what your OS thinks is) a bog standard drive. A Dynamic one is what you need in order to be able to use software RAID. (If you have a hardware RAID controller, the OS is completely oblivious of the RAID, and will see your disks as Basic - not Dynamic).
Im not too sure what "dynamic raid resizing" is, might want to look here which seems to indicate that you might indeed be able to do so.
However, whatever happens, make sure you have a recent full backup of all your important data, as these things tend to quite like taking a shit on you once in a while, and be prepared to wait a long time for any migration to take place.
Good luck.
Depends entirely on the RAID controller. Some, if not most, hardware RAID controllers allow you to migrate between different RAID levels, but you can only do specific transformations that are detailed in the documentation (ie, AFAIK no controller allows you to go from any RAIDX to RAIDY).Jenspm wrote:
If I have 3 HDDs in RAID5 and then buy a new one, would it be possible to "add" the new one to the raid?
Or would I have to format all of them and set it up again?
What you are thinking of is RAID0, which technically is not a form of RAID - more an AID, as RAID is a "Redudant Array of Independent (/ Inexpensive) Drives". There is no redundancy with RAID0 as you correctly said - loose one drive and you loose it all.Aapje wrote:
Huh... I always thought the HDD's would share the information / data over the HDD's thus making it impossible to remove one? wtf Don't know that for sure though but I'd assume not hmm
Because from what I've heard is that if one of your drives in RAID stops working you'll lose all of your information since it's shared?
Correct.Titch2349 wrote:
RAID comes in many different forms, the most common for home users being RAID 1 or RAID 0.
RAID 1 is mirroring - i.e all the data on 1 hard drive is also put on the second hard drive. This is done for backup, so if one HD fails, the other one still contains all the information.
RAID 0 is striping- i.e. for 1 chunk of data, half of it is put on 1 hard drive, the other half on the other. THis is done for speed, so data can be read / written "twice" as quickly. however if one hard drive fails, your fucked.
Not really. There are two main "types" of RAID levels - Standard and Nested. Standard levels are like 0, 1, 5 etc. There is no such thing as RAID7, and i dont think there is a RAID11. The standard levels are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, with 0, 1, 5 (and to some extent 6) being the most popular.Titch2349 wrote:
Then you come onto the other versions of RAIDs which I don't know too much about- I believe RAID 5, 7, 10 and 11 are options, and these (IIRC), combine striping and mirroring, to give you more speed, and backup, generally used in businesses. If one hard drive fails when using either of these formats, RAID can work out what was lost on the other drive by looking at what is still on the remaining drive, and will recreate the information. If however, 2 drives fail at any one time, I believe you are fucked again.
Now, nested levels. There are when you combine different standard raid levels to combine benefits. For example, RAID0 is fast but has no redundancy, but RAID1 is slow(er) and had redudnacy - i know, lets combine them an make RAID1+0 or RAID10 (a stripe of mirrors) - not to be confused with RAID 0+1. Nested levels are 0+1, 10, 0+3, 30, 100, 50 and 60.
No... just no. RAID 10 needs minimum of 4. RAID7 and 11 dont exist. RAID 5 needs minimum 3. RAID 0 and 1 need minimum 2.Titch2349 wrote:
I also think that another difference between RAID 1 & 0, and RAID 5, 7, 10 and 11, is that RAID 1 & 0 can be done using a minimum of 2 drives, whereas the others need at least 3 drives.
Yeah, i think with a high end hardware RAID controller, in certain situations it can be done. But i would definately be warey with hybrid / software solutions.Titch2349 wrote:
As for the OP, Jenspm, I remember when Chuy was trying to add another drive to his RAID array on gibson without formatting, it didn't work, but im unsure if it is actually possible...
/agree.max wrote:
AFAIK it depends on the raid controller. Some can add drives later, most can't. At least for consumer / SOHO level, it won't work
Yeah, well the hybrid RAID controller in your case does depend on the mobo (ie whats been built into it).Jenspm wrote:
I assume the raid controller depends on the mobo?
It's an Asus P5E-V HDMI fyi.
raid controller: Intel ICH9R
OK. Start > Control Panel > Admin Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management. Are your drives "Dynamic" or "Basic"?Jenspm wrote:
hrm, according to google, I can do "dynamic raid resizing" if my drives are dynamic.
Anyone care to translate to a slightly more noobish language? Mostly the difference between a dynamic and normal drive.
A Basic drive is (what your OS thinks is) a bog standard drive. A Dynamic one is what you need in order to be able to use software RAID. (If you have a hardware RAID controller, the OS is completely oblivious of the RAID, and will see your disks as Basic - not Dynamic).
Im not too sure what "dynamic raid resizing" is, might want to look here which seems to indicate that you might indeed be able to do so.
However, whatever happens, make sure you have a recent full backup of all your important data, as these things tend to quite like taking a shit on you once in a while, and be prepared to wait a long time for any migration to take place.
Good luck.
Last edited by =Karma-Kills= (2008-07-20 08:17:43)
wow, nice post
+1
+1
once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.
indeed.max wrote:
wow, nice post
+1