Four Hard Drive Config.

[ronniebee]

System Specs Here. http://forums.mysuperpc.com/showthread.php?t=871

I have 4 drives:

1: WD 320GB installed in old system Running OS.
2: SG 320GB installed in old system Storage of Video Mpeg, Jpegs and MP3 music files. This old DELL system has worked well for my multimedia apps; it is just way too slow. Also, it is 8 years old and very obsolete.

My new system, [see specs above], has connections for both PATA and SATA drives. One of the old drives has to remain in the old system, because my wife wants it to surf the internet with.

My question is: what would you suggest to be the best configuration for my new system, for instance:

A. I could use the SG 320GB as my C: drive, and install Win XP64 on it.
with the 2 SATA Drives in RAID 0 config for movies and sound storage.

B. Install the OS on C: on one of the SATA drives and use the other 2 for backup on D: as SATA: and E: as PATA:
Would this give me a speed adavantage?

Two of my LG optical drives will be on the 2nd EIDE connector.

What Say?

Ronnie Bee

[The Wise Monkey]

RAID 0 is very fast, but it doubles the chance of something going wrong i.e. if one of the HDs goes, then you lose everything. I would suggest going for the second option you suggested. :)

[ronniebee]

Wise Monkey,
Thanks for the reply, you're right, for what I need to do I don't need Raid. What I've decided to do initially is:

Start with the two SATA 500GB drives as individuals on C: and D:. I will install the OS on SATA C: and get the system up and booting. This should give me faster boots and OS operations.

Once the system is stable, I will back up all my data files in the old system from the WD C: 320GB drive to the SG 320GB drive in H: and move it to the new system, leaving the WD 320 w/OS in the Dell for my wife to use. (This will save me from having to port so many files via USB 2.0 and those mpeg files can be quite large.)

Then once I copy the files to SATA D: drive I can use the SG 320gb as storage or for backup.

[The Wise Monkey]

Sounds like a good idea. :)

[jclaydon]

Sorry to butt in on a conversation, but I have a question about raid.

Is there any way to us two drives in a RAID 0 configuration, and then use a third, larger drive to do regular backups of the whole thing so that you won't lose important data?

[ronniebee]

Sorry to butt in on a conversation, but I have a question about raid.

Is there any way to us two drives in a RAID 0 configuration, and then use a third, larger drive to do regular backups of the whole thing so that you won't lose important data?

Sorry for the late reply, I was re-installing all my software and just now had time to post.

Yes, if you have a machine with a motherboard that provides both IDE and sata drive connections. I found out that I could use my old IDE drives to plug into the Primary IDE line, and copy all my data from the old system to my 2 sata raid drives. I just left them lying in the floor while copying them over, but if you wanted to make them permanent, all you need to do is install them in the drive bays. I thought about keeping mine for backup, but my wife still needs them in the old system. Later I may get another large external sata for backup, since I have an external sata connection on my case.

Also I found out if you have more than 1 sata drive, they must be configured in a sata raid connection, either parallel, or striped. I believe the rear sata connection can be configured seperatly because mine is on another connection than the 2 internal drives. I would have to check that out to be sure though.

Ronnie Bee