Use RAID for OS?

Hello harbor235, If your system is stable using a Raid array, then it should be fine to use it with the OS installed in a Raid array.

Please remember that Raid arrays are, mathmatically speaking, two or more times likely to fail, since you are using 2 or more hard drives.

The newer hard drives do not have the fail rate as earlier versions, but do still fail at times.

I personally, have never had a hard drive fail in over 28 years of computing. This is not the norm however. I have replaced many for others.

If any hard drive in the Raid0 array fails, the entire array (data) is lost.

In a Raid1 array, (mirror), the failed drive can be replaced and the Raid1 array can be rebuilt.

The Raid0 array gives a slight performace increase while the Raid1 gives reliability due to the rebuild featues.

I have used Raid0 arrays for 12 years with the OS installed on the array without any Raid issues at all, but you MUST have a backup strategy in place, due to the possibility of a Raid0 array failure.

I have a XPS 420 that I am unable to use a Raid0 array on due to OS corruption. Others have mentioned this as well.

I have discontinued the Raid0 array and now use one WD VelociRaptor 300 GB, instead of the Raid0 array on the XPS 420 only.

I can see very little difference in performance with the WD single drive and the Raid0 array on my XPS 420.

All my other 9 systems use Raid0 arrays without any issues at all, but these are homebuilt systems.

Hope this helps.

Currently I have utilized 2 physical drives and created a single logical volume, is this viable?

Also, in a RAID 1 configuration does the time it takes to rebuld due to fauilure about the same time

to reinstall? I guess you can have a spare OS drive already built (built on same hardware) with your OS and just replace it

then download the necessary config files? If you have 3 internal drives couldn't you do RAID 5? Is that doable?

thank you for your response,

harbor235

Hello harbor235, If your system supports Raid0, Raid1, Raid5, you could configure any of these arrays.

Since I don't know which system you have, it is hard to say which Raid array you can create.

I have never used a Raid1 array so I cannot comment on the time to rebuild the Raid1 array, but I think it would be less than installing the OS and all the Programs. You would have the system back just as it was, with all the settings, etc.

The Raid5 array is really not adviseable and probably not available on a Dell system.

Raid arrays do have their place, but you should have a backup strategy in place. This should be in place even with single drives.

You could have a spare hard drive for backup purposes, but it would almost always be out of date, due to everyday use and Windows Updates.

Hope this helps.

 

Yes it helps out allot, I had my thoughts and you confirmed them,

 

thank you for you help,

 

harbor235 ;}

Have setup raids on production servers for 20 years....

Viable if it is raid 1, if it is raid 0, scrap it; make sure it is raid 1.  On a production server you only use raid 0 on a separate array for video editing,  for files which can be lost, such as for  the pagefile/tmp files, and data which will be lost. If you value your data/career do not use raid 0.

You want to place the OS and programs installs on a raid 1, not a single drive. The odds of both drives of a raid 1 failing within a short period of time (say a week or two) are near astronomical (baring lightning getting to the server, floods, earthquakes, huge voltage spike on the grid,  riots, and extremely rare, a firmware glitch/drive firmware flash). Preferably, you want this array separate from your data, should anything happen to the OS, such as malware/virus/major OS corruption, so it is wise to have a second array for data, be it raid 1/5/10. Separate arrays are easier to maintain organization, file security and multiple arrays add performance.

Unlike raid 5, rebuild time for a raid 1 is very quick, like around 15-30 minutes for a 73 Gig SAS drive, raid 5 can take a couple hours with same size drives. SATA drive take MUCH longer to rebuild, in my limited SATA experience, at least 4 times as long.

If your not sure how to set a raid 1, google      Dell Perc ( fill in the model) manual             or call Dell support.