Precision 530.....can I RAID-0 my computer ?

Question

OK, I got a 530  and I'm using a Fujitsu SCSI 160 18gb Harddrive......I was wanting to purchase another 18gb drive (they are cheap, like 80 bucks) and setup RAID-0.   My question is that will my Workstation do SCSI RAID without buy extra expensive adapters ?   My Controller devices are:   Adaptec AIC-7892 Ultra 160 SCSI   Adaptec AIC-7892 / AIC-7897 PCI Ultra 2 SCSI Controller   Adaptec AHA-2930CU PCI SCSI Controller   Adaptec SlimSCSI 16-bit PCMCIA SCSI Host Adapter   Future Domain PCI SCSI Host adapter   HP NetRAID-1Si   Service Tag-7XDNN01

Chipstone · Answer

The only controller listed that is capable of RAID is: HP NetRAID-1Si, but I believe that HBA is rated at only Ultra2 (80mb/sec max transfer) all other are regular SCSI controller.

You can purchase an economical raid controller on eBay, rated at U160 in order to reap the benefits of good Raid speeds.

The 530WS on-board controller is limited to a max transfer rate of U160; however the 64/66 PCI slot can accept either Ultra 80/160 or Ultra 320 raid cards, and depending on the SCSI drives you have, or will purchase later on, could transfer rates north of 130mb/sec with a U320 Raid card & U320 SCSI drives.

ApolloSpeed · Answer

Yeah....my Harddrive is 160.......so I just wanna stick with U160 Raid 0....... but ,Your saying that I will need a U160 Raid Controller on top of all the other controller I already have installed ???

Chipstone · Answer

If you want to create a Raid array with two drives, and you want U160 interface speed you will require a Raid card rated Ultra 160, the only card in your list capable of any raid configuration is the: HP NetRAID-1Si, all other listed cards are only SCSI controllers.

HP NetRAID-1Si is rated as an only Ultra 2 = U80, if you use that card and create a raid with two 18GB drives your aggregate speed will probably be less than just using the regular U160 SCSI controller card: Adaptec AIC-7892 Ultra 160 SCSI.

Drop The Hammer · Answer

As long as you are running windows xp pro or some other type of software raid capable OS like Linux you can make a software stripe.

HOWEVER:

Please note the firmware versions of the drives you have, and the one you are going to buy, as if they are different the raid will be slow. In another post I have three 18gb drives, two are version 5507, and the other is 5505. Since you are unable to download or buy the 5507 from either fujitsu or dell, my only alternative was to ask the retailer I purchased it from to look for a specific revision.

A0-21 is 5505 mfg 8/01
A1-21 is 5507 mfg 11/01

Good luck..

Message Edited by Drop The Hammer on 08-11-2005 05:45 PM

stevem1 · Answer

i believe with Win2000 and XP you can do  software RAID Message Edited by stevem1 on 10-15-2005 06:52 AM

stevem1 · Answer

with Win2000 and XP you can do  software RAID without using an adapter ( you can buy  an LSI card at Newegg for about $150) -if you're doing this for a speedup rather than for redundancy (from mirroring) you might be disappointed- I've never been overwhelmed by any speed increase from RAID- if your hard drive is 10K you may be happier just moving to a 15K drive

Storage, Drives & Media

Precision 530.....can I RAID-0 my computer ?

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