RAID 0 array lost?

matt5frenzy · 06-16-2008, 08:36 PM

Hi everyone,
First things first here are my system specs:

Vista Ultimate 64bit
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 with Intel Q6600
8gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
2x WD Raptor 150gb Raid 0
WD My Book 500gb external
MSI NX8800GT 512mb
XFi Platinum Fatality
PCPC 750 silencer
Antec P180
Logitech Z-5500
Apple 23" Cinema Display / HP 22" widescreen

So, I built this system this past february, and ever since have had random system hangs and one BSOD. Finally got around to running memtest to diagnose over the past week and (this is besides the point) turns out its one of my memory sockets rather than the DIMMs themselves (doh). Anyway, in order to get memtest to run on this mobo I had to disable most of the integrated peripherals through the BIOS (SATA, RAID controller, etc) So when all was said and done today I go to boot my system back up normally, and after post the RAID controller (intel ICH9) comes back as saying my array has failed. What.

Easier to show than explain..

So, what could have happened while running memtest or changing my bios settings to make that first hard drive a non-raid disk, or is this just random bad luck?
Either way, any hope of getting this array back and booting to windows again, obviously this was my OS disk.
Thanks in advance!

Rob 1 · 06-16-2008, 11:42 PM

First of all, RAID 0 is not redundant, therefore it is not a true RAID array.
Which is why the os may be toast.
(hopefully someone can offer a fix here)

But my advice here is to suggest to you that RAID 0 is really not that fast either, for all the risks involved.
You would do better to run a RAID 1 or better.
With those Raptors, you wouldn't notice much of a difference anyway.

The fact of the matter is that system memory is roughly 100,000 times faster than hard drives.
(nanoseconds vs milliseconds)
So no matter how much improvement you could squeeze out of your hard drive,
it would still be the bottleneck to your memory.
The best bet is to make sure you have as much system memory as you need.

matt5frenzy · 06-17-2008, 06:31 AM

Yeah, I realize the gains are minimal with RAID0 but theyre still there, and it (was) worth it having close to 300gb at 10k rpm for my system/app disk...
buutttt in retrospect now once I solve all this I'll probably go RAID5.

Any thoughts/solutions anyone?
May just be a simple failure just seems odd timing with the other things I was doing with my system before it happened.

06-16-2008, 08:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
matt5frenzy Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Vista Ult 64, SP1	RAID 0 array lost? Hi everyone, First things first here are my system specs: Vista Ultimate 64bit Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 with Intel Q6600 8gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 2x WD Raptor 150gb Raid 0 WD My Book 500gb external MSI NX8800GT 512mb XFi Platinum Fatality PCPC 750 silencer Antec P180 Logitech Z-5500 Apple 23" Cinema Display / HP 22" widescreen So, I built this system this past february, and ever since have had random system hangs and one BSOD. Finally got around to running memtest to diagnose over the past week and (this is besides the point) turns out its one of my memory sockets rather than the DIMMs themselves (doh). Anyway, in order to get memtest to run on this mobo I had to disable most of the integrated peripherals through the BIOS (SATA, RAID controller, etc) So when all was said and done today I go to boot my system back up normally, and after post the RAID controller (intel ICH9) comes back as saying my array has failed. What. Easier to show than explain.. So, what could have happened while running memtest or changing my bios settings to make that first hard drive a non-raid disk, or is this just random bad luck? Either way, any hope of getting this array back and booting to windows again, obviously this was my OS disk. Thanks in advance! __________________ - Matt NREMT-B

06-16-2008, 11:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
Rob 1 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 326 OS: XP Pro	Re: RAID 0 array lost? First of all, RAID 0 is not redundant, therefore it is not a true RAID array. Which is why the os may be toast. (hopefully someone can offer a fix here) But my advice here is to suggest to you that RAID 0 is really not that fast either, for all the risks involved. You would do better to run a RAID 1 or better. With those Raptors, you wouldn't notice much of a difference anyway. The fact of the matter is that system memory is roughly 100,000 times faster than hard drives. (nanoseconds vs milliseconds) So no matter how much improvement you could squeeze out of your hard drive, it would still be the bottleneck to your memory. The best bet is to make sure you have as much system memory as you need. __________________ You should be running: Antivirus Antispyware Firewall (software or hardware)

06-17-2008, 06:31 AM	#3 (permalink)
matt5frenzy Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Vista Ult 64, SP1	Re: RAID 0 array lost? Yeah, I realize the gains are minimal with RAID0 but theyre still there, and it (was) worth it having close to 300gb at 10k rpm for my system/app disk... buutttt in retrospect now once I solve all this I'll probably go RAID5. Any thoughts/solutions anyone? May just be a simple failure just seems odd timing with the other things I was doing with my system before it happened. __________________ - Matt NREMT-B