Re: Software RAID or File Copy program?

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance


"Brock Hensley" <Brock@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:DDB1DF9A-EC62-426E-8E9C-0BC5AAE660CE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hello,

I have a web server with 3 hard drives as laid out below, and basically I would like to know what is the best way to keep a backup copy of the 2nd drive?

1) OS 7,200rpm
2) DATA 10,000rpm -- Inetpub
3) BACKUP 10,000rpm

I have tried RoboCopy (slow), RichCopy (great but doesnt copy open files), and SyncBack (seems too large of a job; never completes). While RichCopy seems to be the winner of the 3, it can't copy "open" files which is a major concern when trying to ensure a local backup copy of ALL files on the drive.

Hardware RAID is out of the budget, and I had figured that Software RAID would be too much overhead for a busy webserver - but now it looks like RAID would be the best way to ensure a constant backup copy of even live files so, any advice? How much does Software RAID affect performance?

If I were to try out Software RAID, would comparing the Disk Queue Length performance counteres prior to and after the RAID configuration be an appropriate measurement or ?

Thanks,
--
Brock Hensley
http://BHensley.com
==


I believe software, operating system controlled RAID has about a 10%-12% hit on performance. For example, I have a customer with an older Dell 400SC server runnign Windows 2003 that I eventually upgraded to new Dell 2950s. The old server had two drives, but due to budget at the time when it was bought years ago, it was too much to add the PERC controller (for RAID). After the ugrade, I rebuilt the server wtih a PERC4 card I bought at one of the auction sites for US $75. After setting up hardware RAID1, and reinstalling Windows 2003, the performance difference was unbelieveable. I wish I had pushed for the PERC card years ago.

So in summary, hardware RAID is a vast improvement over software RAID. If you have three or more drives, RAID5 will result in more performance improvements. So it depends on your budget, the machine you have, the RAID cards that are available for that machine, as well as the cost of additional drives, to achieve your goals.

As for copy software, I like Second Copy. It will handle open files. I use that in some instances where I need to keep an updated list of deleted files and changes, which you can configure it to save deleted or changed files in case you want to revert to a previously changed file. I provided the link below, if you want to read up on how it works.

Second Copy: Secure your data with automatic backup softwareSecond Copy® is the perfect automatic backup software designed for Microsoft Windows you have been looking for. It makes a backup of your data files to ...
www.centered.com/

--
Ace

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and confers no rights.

Please reply back to the newsgroup or forum for collaboration benefit among responding engineers, and to help others benefit from your resolution.

Ace Fekay, MCT, MCTS Exchange, MCSE, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSA Messaging
Microsoft Certified Trainer

For urgent issues, please contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please check http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers.

.

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