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theburner · 06-04-2004, 12:24 PM

Mooseman.. Yes, you do need to format the disks. If you have already had one or both of the disks in use in your system they will already have the NTFS (hopefully not FAT32) set up, so theoretically you don't need to format. However, for a nice clean, fresh install I would recommend it.
Ack32 is correct, your drives theoretically don't need to be the same size. However, in order to maximize your performance and utilize the full capacity of all disks, it is recommended that you use identical disks (or at least disks of the same capacity).
I am going to be blowing away my system to set up a RAID 0 in a week or two. I am just making 100% sure all of my data is backed up before I do it.
Ack32 is also correct about RAID 0 not being a true form of Data Protection, all it really does is speed up your data transfer (2 pipes instead of one). Raid 1 is slower than RAID 0, but does provide COMPLETE data protection.
Personally, if I had the cash and the room in my system I would run a RAID 0+1 in my system. However, buying that 3rd disk just isn't in the cards right now.
Raid 0 -> Pure Striping. No Data Protection. FAST
Raid 1 -> Mirroring. 100% Data Protection, Slow
Raid 0+1 -> Mirroring with Striping: 100% Data Protection. Best form for home user.
Raid 3 -> Striping with Parity Disk: Complete Data Protection, requires 3 Disks. Amount of usable space is the number of drives minus one.
Raid 5 -> Striping with Parity striped across all disks: Complete Data protection, required minimum 3 disks. One drive can fail and not effect the integrity of the data. Best suited for HEAVY read applications.

Hope this helps.

06-04-2004, 12:24 PM	#9 (permalink)
theburner Canadian Beer Ambassador Location: Cumming, GA	Mooseman.. Yes, you do need to format the disks. If you have already had one or both of the disks in use in your system they will already have the NTFS (hopefully not FAT32) set up, so theoretically you don't need to format. However, for a nice clean, fresh install I would recommend it. Ack32 is correct, your drives theoretically don't need to be the same size. However, in order to maximize your performance and utilize the full capacity of all disks, it is recommended that you use identical disks (or at least disks of the same capacity). I am going to be blowing away my system to set up a RAID 0 in a week or two. I am just making 100% sure all of my data is backed up before I do it. Ack32 is also correct about RAID 0 not being a true form of Data Protection, all it really does is speed up your data transfer (2 pipes instead of one). Raid 1 is slower than RAID 0, but does provide COMPLETE data protection. Personally, if I had the cash and the room in my system I would run a RAID 0+1 in my system. However, buying that 3rd disk just isn't in the cards right now. Raid 0 -> Pure Striping. No Data Protection. FAST Raid 1 -> Mirroring. 100% Data Protection, Slow Raid 0+1 -> Mirroring with Striping: 100% Data Protection. Best form for home user. Raid 3 -> Striping with Parity Disk: Complete Data Protection, requires 3 Disks. Amount of usable space is the number of drives minus one. Raid 5 -> Striping with Parity striped across all disks: Complete Data protection, required minimum 3 disks. One drive can fail and not effect the integrity of the data. Best suited for HEAVY read applications. Hope this helps. __________________ Take Off Eh!