New SATA Drive to Mirror Existing Drive

eds · 08-07-2005, 05:01 PM

I would like to get a new SATA drive to use as a "mirror" to my existing SATA drive. (Please bear with me if my terms are not quite right but I don't know much of this use of SATA drives.) In a nutshell, I'd like to get a new drive and use it as an automatic backup of my existing drive.
I have a couple of questions...
1. Should the SATA drives be the same size?
2. Would I be best off getting the same drive as the one I already have? I suspect I should do this but the model number seems to have changed. The new drive I'm looking at is a Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L120M0 120GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive.

Here's my configuration:
ASUS MB NForce 2 A7N8X-E Deluxe
CPU AMD 2500/33 ATHLON XP BARTON
Hard Drive HD 120GB MAXTOR 6Y120M0 SATA

Thanks for any assistance you can render.
Ed S.

**johnwill** · 08-07-2005, 08:14 PM

The SATA drives should be the same size, and you'll also need to use the RAID controller.

I'd recommend a different course of action. I'd simple install the second drive in a non-RAID configuration and use something like Acronis True Image to make image backups of the boot drive.

eds · 08-08-2005, 07:20 AM

Thanks for the quick response.

I'm just wondering why that recommendation? I'm trying to make the backup process as foolproof and easy as possible which is why I thought of using the SATA drives. If I did go the SATA way, if I lost my C drive, could I use the other one to work as my C drive thereby not losing anything? On the other hand, if I went with Acronis true Image and lost the C drive, could I just get another drive, re-install Windows and use the Acronis backup to set up the new drive as it was before the crash?

Thanks,
Ed

08-07-2005, 05:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
eds Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2 OS: XP Pro	New SATA Drive to Mirror Existing Drive I would like to get a new SATA drive to use as a "mirror" to my existing SATA drive. (Please bear with me if my terms are not quite right but I don't know much of this use of SATA drives.) In a nutshell, I'd like to get a new drive and use it as an automatic backup of my existing drive. I have a couple of questions... 1. Should the SATA drives be the same size? 2. Would I be best off getting the same drive as the one I already have? I suspect I should do this but the model number seems to have changed. The new drive I'm looking at is a Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L120M0 120GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive. Here's my configuration: ASUS MB NForce 2 A7N8X-E Deluxe CPU AMD 2500/33 ATHLON XP BARTON Hard Drive HD 120GB MAXTOR 6Y120M0 SATA Thanks for any assistance you can render. Ed S.

08-07-2005, 08:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,685 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	The SATA drives should be the same size, and you'll also need to use the RAID controller. I'd recommend a different course of action. I'd simple install the second drive in a non-RAID configuration and use something like Acronis True Image to make image backups of the boot drive. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

08-08-2005, 07:20 AM	#3 (permalink)
eds Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2 OS: XP Pro	Thanks for the quick response. I'm just wondering why that recommendation? I'm trying to make the backup process as foolproof and easy as possible which is why I thought of using the SATA drives. If I did go the SATA way, if I lost my C drive, could I use the other one to work as my C drive thereby not losing anything? On the other hand, if I went with Acronis true Image and lost the C drive, could I just get another drive, re-install Windows and use the Acronis backup to set up the new drive as it was before the crash? Thanks, Ed