Setting up RAID 0

[Van Weapon]

So I have a 240GB Kingston V300 SSD running my main OS/critical files and a 3TB mass storage HDD. Both are around 70% full at the moment. 

What's the simplest/quickest way to set my SSD to RAID 0 without losing everything I have. I already have the second identical SSD which hasn't been used yet. 

I'd also like to set the storage HDD to RAID 0 as well but I dont have a second hard drive at the moment. 

This is just a personal PC so I don't consider anything too valuable not to lose, if I do its in cloud storage somewhere. 

[Naeaes]

Drag and drop all you want to keep onto the HDD. You won't be able to retain installed programs, but files you can keep. To save time/hassle later on, remember to download the drivers you're gonna need onto the HDD, especially the one for LAN. Once you're ready to take the plunge, unplug your storage drive just to be safe, plug in the 2nd SSD, change SATA mode to RAID and look up in your mobo manual how to enter the RAID utility. Build the arrays, install windows, plug the HDD back in and get your softwares and drivers in there.
DO NOT setup a RAID 0 for the storage drive, you crazy SOB. If you really need the speed, go for RAID 10. 

[Van Weapon]

Would backing up a system image onto the HDD work? 

[Naeaes]

1 minute ago, Van Weapon said:

Would backing up a system image onto the HDD work? 

Yeah. But in my opinion it's not very smart.
First of all, cloning the SSD onto the HDD and then back onto the RAID array takes a lot of time. It's slower than reinstalling. Installing an OS onto a RAID 0 SSD array is uncannily fast. 
Secondly, Since it's speed that you're after (why else even set up RAID0) now's the best time to lose all unnecessary programs, fragmentation and viruses/malware too. Why settle for a second-hand OS if in all other ways your rig is as fast it can be.

But yeah, You can clone or backup the SSD onto the HDD and revert to it after setting up the RAID0. You need to use a software that you can boot from USB thou. Windows does have the backup and recovery tools built in but usually the built in tools from Microsoft aren't really the best. Definitely not the easiest to use. I'd go with Acronis Trueimage maybe. Or Norton Ghost.

[Van Weapon]

Fair enough, ill have the backup as a plan B and see how I go with the fresh install. Cheers

[Captain_WD]

13 hours ago, Van Weapon said:

~snip~

 

Hey there Van Weapon,

Putting drives in RAID0 requires a format so you will lose everything from the SSD. I would advice you against this for two major reasons:
- RAID0 offers a good boost to sequential read/write speeds but has little to none effect on the random ones. Everyday usage relies much more on the random speeds rather than on the sequential ones so you won't notice any major improvements unless you are using the system for applications that do utilize sequential speeds.
- RAID0 increases the chances of data loss due to the nature of the RAID itself. It provides no redundancy whatsoever and if you lose one of the drives you can't rebuild the array and you would lose everything on both drives. Besides drive failure, things that can cause permanent data loss are data corruption or drive dropouts due to misalignment. 

I would suggest to simply use the second SSD as a secondary drive and put demanding applications and programs there and leave everything else for the HDD.

Feel free to ask if you happen to have questions

Captain_WD.