Re: Backup, RAID, Mirror confusion...

"Peter G" <peter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:unTDhWMoFHA.2904@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

> New machine (Dell) with 3 160gb "non raided" hard drives about to be
> delivered.
>
> Old machines system disk (Windows XPPro and apps) has about 15gb used.
> (C drive)
>
> Seems that on the new computer it would be a good idea if my system
> (boot) disc (C drive partition?) had an exact copy made at the same
> time (mirrored?) onto a (seperate partition?) on one of the other
> drives (say E drive) so that if the C drive goes down I can press a
> magic switch and everything is restored from E drive without having to
> reload Windows (XPPRO) and all the apps.
>
> Totally confused with RAID and Mirroring and things like Ghost and
> Drive Image. Should I get back to Dell and ask for some sort of RAID -
> or other advice gratefully received....
>
> cheers
>
>

I've read the other repies, and see that you mainly do graphics and
video.

If the video work involves capture, meaning a high speed HD is required
as this is disk intensive, RAID 0 is an option. RAID 0 stores the data
across the drives, but with no redundancy. It offer's much faster thruput
to and from the disk's, up to 80 or 85%.

RAID 1 takes 2 HD's and make's them mirror's of each other. This is the
'magic switch' you speak of. The caveat here is that two 160 Gig drive's
appear as 1 single 160 Gig drive. Also, every disk write has to be made
2, to each individual drive, therefore there is some loss of performance.

It's been my intention's to do a certain procedure when I get a new
machine or do a clean install of Windows (which hasn't been since '00, I
upgraded this PC to XP from 98 then). So if I was getting a new DELL PC
with 3 160 Gig HD's used mainly for video editing, I would do the
following.....

1) Receive the new PC
2) Set it up to be sure it works
3) Gather all the required driver's for the hardware and any programs I
use.
4) Format C: (it is a pre-loaded DELL afterall)
5) Install a 'real' copy of XP on 'C'
6) Set up D: & E: as NTFS RAID0, which will then become only D:
7) Install ALL the applications I use, including some type of automatic
backup to an external drive, 'smartly scheduled'.

At this time, theoretically, the system is in a pristine state EXACTLY as
YOU want it, with all of YOUR application's that you want/need.

8) Do a backup of the system drive, with Ghost or something similar. If
at any time a re-installation is necesary, you can restore from the newly
created 'restore' disks. (The thing here is that we all install new s/w
from time to time, so at some point you may need to create another
'restore' set).

I would then use the D: drive as the data drive only. Smartly backed up.

You should also do a google search on RAID to see what the differences
are between the different levels to see if that would be a good thing for
you.

Regards,

Dans





Recommended Uses: Non-critical data (or data that changes infrequently
and is backed up regularly) requiring high speed, particularly write
speed, and low cost of implementation. Audio and video streaming and
editing; web servers; graphic design; high-end gaming or hobbyist
systems; temporary or "scratch" disks on larger machines.
.

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