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The perfect RAID setup

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Hello everyone. I have 2 SEAGATE 1tb barracudas 7200.14 and 1 SAMSUNG 256gb EVO SSD. I want to install Windows and softwares on the SSD and keep personal files as well as installed games on a RAID 1 array composed of the 2 1tb disks. I already have everything partitioned and setup correctly on one of the 1tb drives. In order to not have to format this drive after Windows install on the SSD, I thought I would go for a Windows software RAID and I have a couple questions:

  1. Does WIndows software RAID require RAID to be enabled in BIOS or can I just go with AHCI for better SSD performance?
  2. Will the Windows software RAID survive a Windows reinstall?
  3. Is it reliable?
  4. Are there any noticeable disadvantages to a Windows software RAID?
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1. no, works with ahci.

2. no, the raid setup data is stored inside the os

3. yes, very reliable. I am using sofware raid 0 with two 2tb seagates and I never had any problems.

4. as it doesnt survive a os reinstall it's not a valid backup for personal data

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Software raid is also generally the slowest out of all the raid options, and it will use CPU cycles to calculate things that need to be done to maintain the raid.

CPU: i7 3770k @ 4.8Ghz Motherboard: Sabertooth Z77 RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance GPU: GTX 780 Case: Corsair 540 Air Storage: 2x Intel 520 SSD Raid 0 PSU: Corsair AX850 Display(s): 1x 27" Samsung Monitor 3x 24" Asus Monitors Cooling: Swifttech H220 Keyboard: Logitech 710+ Mouse: Logitech G500 Headphones: Sennheiser HD 558 --- Internet: http://linustechtips.com/main/uploads/gallery/album_1107/gallery_12431_1107_23677.png My Setup:  http://linustechtips.com/main/gallery/image/7922-1-rkcf7io/ -- NAS: 3x WD Red 3TB Drives (RAIDZ-1), 5x 750gb Seagate ES HDD(RAIDZ-1), 120gb SSD for caching, OS: FreeNAS --  Server 1: Xeon E3 1275v2, 32GB of RAM, OS: ESXi 5.5 -- Server 2: Xeon E3 1220v2, 32GB of RAM, OS: ESXi 5.5

 

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2. no, the raid setup data is stored inside the os

Are you sure? After quick googling it seems the that windows should detect the raid setup after reinstall. Never used it so don't know but it then sounds just pointless.

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OK, thx all, then in this case, is there anything I can do to setup a motherboard HW RAID 1 without loosing the data on the disks?

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Software raid is also generally the slowest out of all the raid options, and it will use CPU cycles to calculate things that need to be done to maintain the raid.

Yes but CPUs are so fast these days that for a simple mirror it won't matter at all.

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Just get a good Intel RC and another SSD the same as your current. Put the SSDs in raid 1 and the HDDs in raid 0. Get a green drive for backup. Best solution for speed, reliabilty and redundancy

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Are you sure? After quick googling it seems the that windows should detect the raid setup after reinstall. Never used it so don't know but it then sounds just pointless.

 

In my case, I went from win7 to win8.1. Maybe that's why it did not detect the raid volume.

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