Mirroring Two Drives

Drifters · 10-15-2002, 01:10 PM

I was wondering if it was possible to mirror two identical drives (IDE) in Win2000 without RAID or third party software.

**Pseudocyber** · 10-15-2002, 01:28 PM

It was in NT, I assume it is possible in 2K as well. Oops, reading through the help it says you have to 2K Server. Do you have server?

Control Panel - Admin Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management.

Do a Help on mirrored volumes and you get:

Quote:

To create a mirrored volume

Open Disk Management.

Right-click the unallocated space on one of the dynamic disks where you want to create the mirrored volume, and then click Create Volume.

In the Create Volume wizard, click Next, click Mirrored volume, and then follow the instructions on your screen.

Notes

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.

To open Disk Management, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management. In the console tree under Storage, click Disk Management.

You can create mirrored volumes only on computers running Windows 2000 Server.

You need at least two dynamic disks to create a mirrored volume.
Mirrored volumes are fault tolerant.

Mirrored volumes cannot be extended or striped.

The same drive letter is used for both copies (mirrors) of a mirrored volume.

BTW, mirroring IS RAID 1.

Drifters · 10-15-2002, 01:32 PM

Yeah, I am trying to mirror two drives but when I change them to dynamic it doesn't give me the option to mirror. I haven't tried mirroring drives this way in a long time. I thought that after you make the drives dynamic it gives you the option to mirror them. I have only did this with a RAID controller. Any one of you guys know how to do this without the RAID controller.

**Pseudocyber** · 10-15-2002, 01:34 PM

Which one of us posted first? Did you see edit to above?

Are you using 2k Server?

Drifters · 10-15-2002, 01:36 PM

No, Win2000pro. And I saw that at MS site too. No help.

Drifters · 10-15-2002, 01:47 PM

Since you cannnot mirror in Win2000Pro, is there a cheap alternative to get Win2000pro to be able to do this. (i.e. thrid party software). Thanks.

P.S.
Psuedocyber I didn't mean you were of no help. I meant MS is no help.

Drifters · 10-15-2002, 01:59 PM

To continue on this post, I would like to know if anyone tried Partition Magic to do what I want to do? Because Partition Magic allows you to copy partitions from one drive to the other. But what I want to know is, does Partition Magic copy all the files (locked files and all)?

Because if it does then I could just go that route with the two hard drives.

P.S.

Thanks Psuedocyber for the help anyway.

**Pseudocyber** · 10-15-2002, 02:34 PM

Well, do you just want to copy one drive to the other?

Or do you want to have 2 drives hot all the time and when you write data it writes to both at the same time (mirroring).

The same company that does Partition Magic also does a program called Drive Copy which is excellent.

Or could you just not be in a dos window and do an:

>attrib *.* -h -s
>xcopy *.* /e/s d:\

Drifters · 10-15-2002, 02:40 PM

I want two hot drives but thanks for the tip. I am currently looking at third party software (which I don't want to do) to see if I could achieve this with a minimum cost.

**Pseudocyber** · 10-15-2002, 02:42 PM

I would recommend you look at a hardware solution instead! More reliable. If you only want RAID 1, it shouldn't be too expensive, but I haven't priced them.

PromiseTech and ... I forget the other company that I was looking at recently.

Drifters · 10-15-2002, 02:58 PM

Thanks. You were a lot of help. But I'll way my options and decide. Thanks again.

**Pseudocyber** · 10-15-2002, 03:13 PM

You're welcome. Let us know what you find out and decide!

**johnwill** · 10-17-2002, 07:56 AM

First off, RAID and a backup with something like GHOST or Drive Image are quite different. If you are running a RAID configuration and your software decides to delete critical files or directories, they automagically disappear from all your data! If you have run an image or other backup, that data is obviously still intact. What are you trying to accomplish, backup or reliability? RAID is for run-time reliability, not backup.

Drifters · 10-17-2002, 08:23 AM

Trying to mirror two drives so that if one fails you could use the other drive with now lost data.

**Pseudocyber** · 10-17-2002, 09:04 AM

Go with hardware RAID!

EXCELLENT RAID article: http://www.anandtech.com/storage/sho...tml?i=1491&p=1

Drifters · 10-17-2002, 09:15 AM

Thanks again. I'll probably get a RAID control and mirror the two drives.

10-15-2002, 01:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
Drifters Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 283 OS: win 2000	Mirroring Two Drives I was wondering if it was possible to mirror two identical drives (IDE) in Win2000 without RAID or third party software. __________________ Drifters For Life

10-15-2002, 01:32 PM	#3 (permalink)
Drifters Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 283 OS: win 2000	Yeah, I am trying to mirror two drives but when I change them to dynamic it doesn't give me the option to mirror. I haven't tried mirroring drives this way in a long time. I thought that after you make the drives dynamic it gives you the option to mirror them. I have only did this with a RAID controller. Any one of you guys know how to do this without the RAID controller. __________________ Drifters For Life

10-15-2002, 01:34 PM	#4 (permalink)
Pseudocyber NetEngr/Geek Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Earth\US\NC\Charlotte Posts: 1,394 OS: Win2K	Which one of us posted first? Did you see edit to above? Are you using 2k Server? __________________ AM = :coffee: PM = :cheers: CCNA, NNCSSx2, MCSE (NT), A+, CNA

10-15-2002, 01:36 PM	#5 (permalink)
Drifters Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 283 OS: win 2000	No, Win2000pro. And I saw that at MS site too. No help. __________________ Drifters For Life

10-15-2002, 01:47 PM	#6 (permalink)
Drifters Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 283 OS: win 2000	Since you cannnot mirror in Win2000Pro, is there a cheap alternative to get Win2000pro to be able to do this. (i.e. thrid party software). Thanks. P.S. Psuedocyber I didn't mean you were of no help. I meant MS is no help. __________________ Drifters For Life

10-15-2002, 01:59 PM	#7 (permalink)
Drifters Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 283 OS: win 2000	To continue on this post, I would like to know if anyone tried Partition Magic to do what I want to do? Because Partition Magic allows you to copy partitions from one drive to the other. But what I want to know is, does Partition Magic copy all the files (locked files and all)? Because if it does then I could just go that route with the two hard drives. P.S. Thanks Psuedocyber for the help anyway. __________________ Drifters For Life

10-15-2002, 02:34 PM	#8 (permalink)
Pseudocyber NetEngr/Geek Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Earth\US\NC\Charlotte Posts: 1,394 OS: Win2K	Well, do you just want to copy one drive to the other? Or do you want to have 2 drives hot all the time and when you write data it writes to both at the same time (mirroring). The same company that does Partition Magic also does a program called Drive Copy which is excellent. Or could you just not be in a dos window and do an: >attrib . -h -s >xcopy . /e/s d:\ __________________ AM = :coffee: PM = :cheers: CCNA, NNCSSx2, MCSE (NT), A+, CNA Last edited by Pseudocyber; 10-15-2002 at 02:37 PM.

10-15-2002, 02:40 PM	#9 (permalink)
Drifters Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 283 OS: win 2000	I want two hot drives but thanks for the tip. I am currently looking at third party software (which I don't want to do) to see if I could achieve this with a minimum cost. __________________ Drifters For Life

10-15-2002, 02:42 PM	#10 (permalink)
Pseudocyber NetEngr/Geek Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Earth\US\NC\Charlotte Posts: 1,394 OS: Win2K	I would recommend you look at a hardware solution instead! More reliable. If you only want RAID 1, it shouldn't be too expensive, but I haven't priced them. PromiseTech and ... I forget the other company that I was looking at recently. __________________ AM = :coffee: PM = :cheers: CCNA, NNCSSx2, MCSE (NT), A+, CNA

10-15-2002, 02:58 PM	#11 (permalink)
Drifters Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 283 OS: win 2000	Thanks. You were a lot of help. But I'll way my options and decide. Thanks again. __________________ Drifters For Life

10-15-2002, 03:13 PM	#12 (permalink)
Pseudocyber NetEngr/Geek Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Earth\US\NC\Charlotte Posts: 1,394 OS: Win2K	You're welcome. Let us know what you find out and decide! __________________ AM = :coffee: PM = :cheers: CCNA, NNCSSx2, MCSE (NT), A+, CNA

10-17-2002, 07:56 AM	#13 (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	First off, RAID and a backup with something like GHOST or Drive Image are quite different. If you are running a RAID configuration and your software decides to delete critical files or directories, they automagically disappear from all your data! If you have run an image or other backup, that data is obviously still intact. What are you trying to accomplish, backup or reliability? RAID is for run-time reliability, not backup.

10-17-2002, 08:23 AM	#14 (permalink)
Drifters Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 283 OS: win 2000	Trying to mirror two drives so that if one fails you could use the other drive with now lost data. __________________ Drifters For Life

10-17-2002, 09:04 AM	#15 (permalink)
Pseudocyber NetEngr/Geek Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Earth\US\NC\Charlotte Posts: 1,394 OS: Win2K	Go with hardware RAID! EXCELLENT RAID article: http://www.anandtech.com/storage/sho...tml?i=1491&p=1 __________________ AM = :coffee: PM = :cheers: CCNA, NNCSSx2, MCSE (NT), A+, CNA

10-17-2002, 09:15 AM	#16 (permalink)
Drifters Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 283 OS: win 2000	Thanks again. I'll probably get a RAID control and mirror the two drives. __________________ Drifters For Life