what raid controller?

[Willy Hamra]

On 22/09/2008, Eberhard Roloff <tuxebi at gmx.de> wrote:
> Willy K. Hamra schrieb:
>> Eberhard Roloff wrote:
>>> Willy K. Hamra schrieb:
>>>> uriah heep wrote:
>>>>> I would like to set up mirroring on 2 sata WD hard drives.  Could any
>>>>> one
>>>>> suggest a good low cost controller.  This is for a home computer not
>>>>> business.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> before getting a controller, many current mother boards support RAID,
>>>> you sure yours doesn't? what's its model?
>>>>
>>>>
>>> This imho is dangerous advice.
>>>
>>> Imagine you use the "internal fake raid" controller. Let's say, three
>>> years from now, your motherboard will fail. Usually, not a big deal
>>> but you will surely not be able to buy a motherboard with the same
>>> fake raid controller, then. Now what happens to your fake raided data?
>>>
>>> Well, it will be on your backup tape, if you are lucky...
>>>
>>> As drever things are, this advice is mainly targeted at Windows users
>>> but even with Linux I would never ever touch such a mess for raid
>>> purposes.....
>>>
>>> Kind regards
>>> Eberhard
>>>
>>>
>>
>> i only tried RAID once on a dg965wh mobo using windows a couple of years
>> ago, and decided i'm no expert in it and returned back to IDE.
>> so basically such a RAID is also a fake RAID? i thought this is a
>> hardware RAID because it's set up before windows boot up, and before i
>> even see the intel splash screen. so it's not hardware?
>>
>>
> well, any non software raid is hardware, just by definition. ;-))
>
> Now fake raid are at least part of made of software. As I see it, fake
> raid is any non removable raid adapter that does not have his own bios
> but relies on a (mostly) propriatary driver to work, instead.
> ex. in order to install windows on "fake raid" you need to prepare a
> special "raid driver disk" in order to make that work.
> In contrast, on a real raid, you get a raid bios where you arrange
> your disks to your likings and the OS will see just the disks you
> configured in the raid controller as being singular, physical disks,
> afterwards.
>
> Again from my view, the main disadvantage is not the driver (assuming
> that this will be available for any existing and future operating
> system that needs to run there). ok, this is a major disadvantage in
> itself, to. ;-)
>
> It is more the incompatible data format that causes trouble when you
> are in a situation where your mobo is dead, but not available any
> more. Now imagine how quickly hardware changes and my conclusion is:
> Either "real hardware raid" or software raid and you are safe.
>
> The very few times that I installed used fake raid were on windows
> with Raid 0, meant to get as most power from the disk as possible for
> hardcore gaming purposes. But this is another world, not mine....
>

thanks for the info, i didn't know about fake raids, weirdly is the
fact that this particular raid i tried had it's own bios which is
configured before the mobo's bios, and the mobo's bios saw it as 1
disk. but still windows required raid drivers, and it caused hell
loads of trouble and finally removed it.

thnx for your info though.

-- 
Willy K. Hamra
Manager of Hamra Information Systems
Co. Manager of Zeina Computers and Billy Net.