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vaio user · 04-09-2007, 06:45 PM

Thank You Blackduck30 for the reply.
I had to read your reply several times to understand the process that you trying to explain to me. But I get it now. Basically I would be transferring the data through migration as if I had a "Raid Ready" system. By using the "new" hard drive as the "Raid Ready " SATA drive and changing it back to "Raid" computer including all of the drives. Then I would follow your instructions for creating a "Raid Ready" system . Sort of a backwards then forwards maneuver to get where I want to be. I think that might work.
Good call. But as you say, I would have to make sure all of my important data is backed up.
I did some poking around after you had mentioned the Intel Storage Utility. I found under the HELP tab that there are several Intel websites I can go to in order to find out more on my dilemma. The user's manual is at http://support.intel.com/support/go/iaa/kb_r.htm there I opened up user's manual and figured that by using the Intel storage utility I can only change my RAID-0 array to a RAID-5 array ,striping with parity when adding 3-6 add'l drives.

And the data on drives would be transferred across the array by using "RAID Level Migration" But realized I would not see much ,if any storage gain due to the Fault-Tolerance. It explains :
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RAID 5 (striping with parity)
A RAID 5 array contains three or more hard drives where the data is divided into manageable blocks called strips. Parity is a mathematical method for recreating data that was lost from a single drive, which increases fault-tolerance. The data and parity are striped across all the hard drives in the array. The parity is striped in a rotating sequence to reduce bottlenecks associated with the parity calculations.

The capacity of a RAID 5 array is the size of the smallest drive multiplied by one less than the number of drives in the array. The equivalent of only a single hard drive is used to store the parity information, allowing for fault-tolerance with less than the 50% capacity reduction of RAID 1. For example, three 400 GB hard drives in a RAID 5 array will appear as a single 800 GB hard drive to the operating system.

The primary benefits of RAID 5 include capacity and data protection. Because parity is used for data protection, up to 75% of the total drive capacity is usable. Further, any single drive can fail and it is possible to rebuild the data after replacing the failed hard drive with a new drive. However, the extra work of calculating the missing data will degrade the write performance to the RAID 5 volume while the volume is being rebuilt.
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So, if I wanted any additional disk space I would have to add at least 2 drives to see any gain. But there is no place to put it unless I strap it to something inside the computer.

Or I guess assign a drive letter to the new hard drive and use it for storage. Music, photos etc. and free up some space on C: drive.

There is a lot of info on the Intel website. I have the 82801 FR controller hub, so I will do more research before I decide what way to go. Seems that there may be limitations on what I can do with that controller.

I thought this would be simple, but I can see it will take some thought.
Thanks again Blackduck30 for your help. If you come across any more information, please let me know.

04-09-2007, 06:45 PM	#3 (permalink)
vaio user Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: NY state Posts: 6 OS: WIN XP My System	Re: Adding add'l HD to existing Raid array Thank You Blackduck30 for the reply. I had to read your reply several times to understand the process that you trying to explain to me. But I get it now. Basically I would be transferring the data through migration as if I had a "Raid Ready" system. By using the "new" hard drive as the "Raid Ready " SATA drive and changing it back to "Raid" computer including all of the drives. Then I would follow your instructions for creating a "Raid Ready" system . Sort of a backwards then forwards maneuver to get where I want to be. I think that might work. Good call. But as you say, I would have to make sure all of my important data is backed up. I did some poking around after you had mentioned the Intel Storage Utility. I found under the HELP tab that there are several Intel websites I can go to in order to find out more on my dilemma. The user's manual is at http://support.intel.com/support/go/iaa/kb_r.htm there I opened up user's manual and figured that by using the Intel storage utility I can only change my RAID-0 array to a RAID-5 array ,striping with parity when adding 3-6 add'l drives. And the data on drives would be transferred across the array by using "RAID Level Migration" But realized I would not see much ,if any storage gain due to the Fault-Tolerance. It explains : ----------------------------------------------------------------------- RAID 5 (striping with parity) A RAID 5 array contains three or more hard drives where the data is divided into manageable blocks called strips. Parity is a mathematical method for recreating data that was lost from a single drive, which increases fault-tolerance. The data and parity are striped across all the hard drives in the array. The parity is striped in a rotating sequence to reduce bottlenecks associated with the parity calculations. The capacity of a RAID 5 array is the size of the smallest drive multiplied by one less than the number of drives in the array. The equivalent of only a single hard drive is used to store the parity information, allowing for fault-tolerance with less than the 50% capacity reduction of RAID 1. For example, three 400 GB hard drives in a RAID 5 array will appear as a single 800 GB hard drive to the operating system. The primary benefits of RAID 5 include capacity and data protection. Because parity is used for data protection, up to 75% of the total drive capacity is usable. Further, any single drive can fail and it is possible to rebuild the data after replacing the failed hard drive with a new drive. However, the extra work of calculating the missing data will degrade the write performance to the RAID 5 volume while the volume is being rebuilt. ---------------------------------------------------------------- So, if I wanted any additional disk space I would have to add at least 2 drives to see any gain. But there is no place to put it unless I strap it to something inside the computer. Or I guess assign a drive letter to the new hard drive and use it for storage. Music, photos etc. and free up some space on C: drive. There is a lot of info on the Intel website. I have the 82801 FR controller hub, so I will do more research before I decide what way to go. Seems that there may be limitations on what I can do with that controller. I thought this would be simple, but I can see it will take some thought. Thanks again Blackduck30 for your help. If you come across any more information, please let me know.