Raid 0 going to a 1 or 5 1

[DrB0b]

So question for those that have had to go down this road before. My predecessor had a "server" set up with XP Pro and in Raid 0 and nothing for backups. Im going to image the server with Acronis 9.0 so a backup at least exists. My question is, when this dies and I go to a RAID 1 or 5, can I take my previous image and load it onto the new RAID? Is there a step in there I need to preform first or is this a loosing battle? Should I just make an image that can be opened in a VM with something else and set up the new RAID and transfer files over manually?

It has onboard Raid w/:
Via VT8237 Raid Controller
2 – 250GB Western Digital WD2500JS-00MHBO

Not looking for specifics on the hardware, just the general theory of how this could go down if needed. Thanks


"Silence is golden, duct tape is silver...

 

[rclarke250]

Should be good as the driver is already loaded. Create the new array, and lay it back down.

 

[BadBigBen]

just in case, I would make a general DATA backup (nonimage), just to be on the safe side, e.g. hardware changes like different RAID controller, etc...



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[goombawaho]

I wouldn't wait until it dies since you are now "in charge". It will be a black mark on you. Plan an "upgrade". Check out this article and maybe do what they are suggesting. I just did this on my computer as a test for a server upgrade. Worked great.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/196922-32-switching-storage-controllers-reinstalling-windows

You could do the upgrade with 2 1TB disks and an Adaptec SATA RAID controller for about $175 and a few hours of time - most of it waiting for the cloning to finish. Then you have new drives, RAID and more data capacity, all for cheap. You are the "hero".

If you do, make sure you get "RAID enabled" hard drives. See this thread for that info.

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1659496&page=1

 

[DrB0b]

BBB - Curious if there is any benefit to a full data backup vs the Acronis image. With the image I can do a recovery of just some files or folders in the image or the whole thing.

Goomba - Any recommendations on hard drives? Can you get TLER drives from somewhere like Newegg or Tiger? Its not listed in the details as having it or not in the few Ive looked at like this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m_sp=Cat_Hard_Drives-_-Spotlight-_-22-136-533

rclark and others - Lets pretend there are 4 onboard SATA ports with 2 occupied by the current RAID 0. Could I not plug in two other say 1TB drives as mentioned in the other ports, create a new array beside the other, clone over, change BIOS boot priority, remove old array?

"Silence is golden, duct tape is silver...

 

[goombawaho]

Newegg has the drives - search for "western digital re4" on their site. I'm sure other manufacturer's have drives with TLER, I just happen to be a Western Digital guy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...MATCH&Description=western+digital+re4&x=0&y=0

That sounds like something you could do for sure. Just make sure to create the array using the new drives, as RAID1, initialize the array and then make it bootable if there's an option in the controller. I know the Adaptec controller that I used has that option.

And don't clone it the wrong way like I did once - cloning the empty drives to the full drives. You end up with nothing.

 

[DrB0b]

Yea, been down the clone road once before with less than favorable results.

Do you have a link to the RAID controller you used? Curious if its similar/better than the one Im currently looking at...

"Silence is golden, duct tape is silver...

 

[goombawaho]

The one I used is only a two port, but there is a similar one with four ports.

Adaptec 1220SA SATA II HostRAID controller

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816103104

Adaptec RAID 1430SA

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...MATCH&Description=Adaptec+RAID+1430SA&x=0&y=0

It shoudn't be hard to clone it the right way if you look at capacity of source vs. destination. My situation happened with two identical size drives.

 

[BadBigBen]

DrBob, no there is no benefit, except that it would be uncompressed and easily accessed... I've never extracted files from an image, so was not even aware that that was implemented in Acronis... (learn something new each day, and the day is not wasted)...

Goom, thank you for the links...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[goombawaho]

I don't know why the OP is looking at a new controller when he said there were 4 ports on his. Oh never mind, he said "let's pretend", so that might not be the case.

If you don't have four ports then you WOULD need the new controller. Make sure you have the right PCI-E slot for the controller in your "server".