Re: Cloning an XP installation to move from JBOD to RAID 0 Stripe

hey Jim,

Thanks for such a detailed response!

However - When i enter the SI setup program at boot - it says of each disk
that the volume is "JBOD".

In windows - there are 2 separate volumes, C & D, the D drive being blank

So as far as I can see, thats NOT JBOD, as by my understanding I should only
see a single volume, of approaching 500gb (the drives are 2x250).

Any ideas as to whats going on?

This is getting weird! lol :o)

"Jim" wrote:

> Let's remember that JBOD means that all HDs are treated as a single, logical
> volume, essentially "spanned". If you have two HDs in a JBOD array which
> you intend to convert to RAID0 (stripped), then it's best to backup the JBOD
> array to another HD, DVD/CD, whatever. You typically don't want to convert
> spanned volumes directly to RAID0 since you can't be sure how the JBOD array
> is populated (i.e., if any files actually span across the HDs), and how the
> RAID controller will treat existing files. It's possible it wil destroy
> everything across all HDs as part of initialization. At least I wouldn't
> take the risk.
>
> Remember also that I only provided a WARNING. What I recommend is TESTING
> the current configuration w/ say, HDTach 3 (free for non-commerical use) so
> you have a baseline for comparison! As I said, I found the problem w/
> restoring images on *my* hardware, a Promise PCI RAID controller card. Each
> RAID controller has its own BIOS/firmware and drivers, they may act very
> differently across type and manufacturer. At this time, I'm only saying to
> test it, before and after. Afterall, the whole point of using RAID0
> (stripping) is to improve performance. If you don't realize the performance
> increase, why bother and take the risk that comes from using RAID0
> (remember, RAID0 increases the risk of data loss because failure of either
> HD in the array typically means loss of ALL data).
>
> If you find the array has NOT increased performance, is it better to do a
> complete reinstall? Well, personally I wouldn't do it if I could avoid it.
> There are ways to circumvent the problem, but I have to admit, it can get
> rather complicated. In my case, I created a FAT32 partition and installed
> MS-DOS 7.0 (part of Win98, and available from www.bootdisk.com) and made it
> bootable (as C:). I then restored my XP from image copy to another FAT32
> partition as D: (luckily XP was in FAT32 format, not NTFS, or else MS-DOS
> 7.0 would not have recognized it). I then booted MS-DOS 7.0 and did an
> XCOPY from D: to C: (thus I was able to run the file through the RAID0
> array!). Finally, I did an XP repair install on C: so it would boot XP, not
> MS-DOS 7.0.
>
> Yeah, kind of compicated, and not workable for all cases, but depending on
> circumstances, it's possible to make it happen. But again, it may all be a
> moot issue if you don't have the hardware problems I found. You may be
> perfectly ok, all I'm suggesting at this point is, CHECK. Get before and
> after results so you can be sure this effort isn't in vain. Worry about
> rectifying the situation later, should you experience the same problems as
> me.
>
> Jim
>
>
>
> "sauvagii" <sauvagii@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:E1F30BBA-34D5-41AF-A9F2-D06E7BCE86C4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Ok - the drives are connected to a Silicon image RAID controller on the
> > motherboard (board is A8n SLI Deluxe from ASUS).
> >
> > Disks at the moment are set up in the SI setup (upon boot) as JBOD.
> >
> > So, by cloning and restoring to the array i'd get no benefit at all,
> unless
> > I did a full reinstallation?
> >
> > I'd be better in that case trying to install from scratch then, wouldnt I?
> >
> > Thing is, i've tried before (this pc has just been returned as it was sent
> > back with a perceived MB fault, as the setup BSOD'd after setup, when the
> > raid controllers were enabled, and the drivers installed during setup).
> Can
> > installXP normally if i dont enable the RAID features.
> >
> > Its been returned with "no hardware fault" - so im reluctant to blitz it
> and
> > start again.
> >
> > "Jim" wrote:
> >
> > > A word of caution here. When using a stripped array, I've noted
> something
> > > w/ my Promise FastTrak 100 TX2 that *might* be common to RAID hardware
> > > generally.
> > >
> > > First time I setup a RAID0 array, I made an image copy of the source HD.
> > > Then setup the array and restored the image to the array. BUT, there
> was a
> > > problem. A benchmark of the RAID0 array showed NO IMPROVEMENT! I was
> > > initally puzzled, how could this be. I can't prove it, but what I
> suspect
> > > is that when you restore the image, it's typically based on sectors, not
> > > files. When this happens, the RAID0 array is NOT optimzed across both
> > > drives. Instead, it's mapped to ONE drive! IOW, all the benefits of
> the
> > > stripped array are lost. So I did a further test to prove (to my
> > > satisfaction) my suspicions. I restored the image file to another HD
> > > (external, slave, whatever). I then created an empty partition on the
> new
> > > array, then COPIED FILE BY FILE from the other HD to the new partition
> on
> > > RAID0, then ran a benchmark. Whalla, I ended up with vastly improved
> > > performance.
> > >
> > > My conclusing was that although I could restore to the array directly
> from
> > > an image, it was self-defeating. Only by forcing files into the array
> > > file-by-file did the array optimize storage across all HDs.
> > >
> > > So just a warning. Maybe my situation was unique to my hardware, but
> this
> > > was something I discovered quite some time ago and worked through a
> > > solution. Benchmark that RAID0 array after the image is restored to it
> to
> > > make SURE you don't have the same problem.
> > >
> > > Jim
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > "Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> > > news:e6xV6KN8FHA.1276@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > > sauvagii wrote:
> > > > > Can anybody tell me, if its possible using a third party
> > > > > application such as Ghost, or Driveimage, to take the existing
> > > > > installation on my PC (was only delivered yesterday) from a hard
> > > > > disk and back up onto a spare disk - and then restore it to a newly
> > > > > formatted/setup Raid 0 array (the installation already has RAID
> > > > > drivers installed) - except the array has not been set up as i'd
> > > > > asked.
> > > >
> > > > Hardware RAID - yes.
> > > > Software RAID - unlikely.
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Shenan Stanley
> > > > MS-MVP
> > > > --
> > > > How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> > > > http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
>
>
>
.

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