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So rather than have HDDs goto waste, I'm looking for some suggestions of implemenation of a RAID setup.

Questions to be answered:

Using Windows 7 and the following HDDs, is the following raid setup possible?

  • 1024 GB : 32 MB Cache : 7200 RPM
  • 512 GB : 16 MB Cache : 7200 RPM
  • 256 GB : 8 MB Cache : 7200 RPM

Proposed RAID Setup

  • 2 x 1024 GB - RAID 1 (New Hardware Incoming)
  • 2 x 256 GB - RAID 0
  • 1 x 512 GB

Current RAID Setup

  • 2 x 256 GB - RAID 0
  • 1 x 512 GB

Is it possible to mirror 2 x 256 GB RAID 0 setup with a 512 GB HDD to make a RAID 1? Thinking about this setup doesn't sound like a good idea, just curious it was feasible with either just hardware or a hardware/software hybrid.

Which would be 'best' for the operating system or media storage? I'm using Windows 7 / Linux Dual Boot.

I rate the RAID setups like so:

Redunancy -> Read / Write Speed -> Space (as this is cheap)

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Raid setup is a compromise between redundancy, space, read speed and write speed. How do you rate them? You should also say what OS you're using, as not all OSes can cope with complex setups. – Gilles Aug 5 '10 at 17:51
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1 Answer

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Your idea of doing RAID1 between a disk of size 2*n and a RAID0 array of two disks of size n doesn't sound bad in principle. It should be supported by Linux; I don't know about Windows.

But I wonder if you really want 5 disks in your machine. That's quite a lot of noise, and also some heat and power.

If you'd like to find some use for old disks, I suggest to treat them as offline storage. Get a USB or eSATA enclosure, and use the smaller disks for backups (the presumably older 256GB disks on alternate days, so if you lose one it's not too big a deal). Use the 512GB disk as additional backup, or for less important stuff that doesn't require replication.

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Good point on the heat and noise, your suggestion has led me to have 2 x 1TB Raid 1, with the only the 512 GB as an install location for applications I can reinstall. I may just hold off on using the 2 x 256 GB HDD now. May just use them in a small server I have setup. Thanks for all the input as well. – MZuhlsdorf Aug 9 '10 at 16:18
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