Array Transfer

[JustADude]

Okay, so the bulk of the storage on my current tower (One of the biggest game-beasts possible out of a AGP/single-core-CPU setup :D) is in a RAID 0 array using a controller built into the MoBo. Since I'm in the process of saving up for a new build, I was wondering if someone with more hands-on experience can answer a quesiton about portability.

In essence, is it possible to move the two drives to a new tower without losing the data on them, or will I have to buy an external HDD (well, an extra internal drive and a conversion shell, but you get my point) and transfer it all to that before I make the move?

[Seshat]

Hm. I don't know, my gut feeling is that it depends on whether the new machine has software (or hardware) capable of reading the current format. My gut feeling says 'if it does, you're fine. If it doesn't, you're not.'

My gut also says 'back it up somehow before you move it. In at least two different places.'

What do the docs say? Either the old or the new docs.

[Pedersen]

RAID 0 isn't really much of a RAID, honestly. RAID 0 is striping, which puts data from the same file on all disks in the array. If one disk goes, you're toast. Recovery is virtually impossible with such a RAID. It's great for speed, though, which is why it's used, though always with a quality backup system.

Also, this is a highly non-portable configuration. Well, actually, all RAID arrays of any variety are non-portable. If you have the same chipset on both setups, it will possibly work. Anything else is unlikely to work.

Best recommendation: Get an extra drive of some variety, do a full backup onto that drive, then move the original drives into the new system, and rebuild as RAID 1, which is mirrored. If one drive goes, the other one continues to function as a full system, allowing you to rebuild a new one on the fly when you replace the one that failed.

[JustADude]

Actually, considering that the two drives together aren't even 200GB, they're not going in for more than a quick data-move anyway. I'll just get an external-drive setup with a drive big enough to swallow the whole array and move the files over.

This next tower is turning into a bulk-storage server when it ends up obsolete as a gaming machine, so I'm not worrying about portability on IT. :D

[Cutenoob]

Pedersen:

Slightly OT, but.....

Let's say I've got a Raid 5 setup w/ 5 drives, and they're connected to a Raid card in my puter.

Now if i wanted to move the card from Box A to Box B, this would NOT work? (Move card and all 5 drives). Why not? The bios versions? The different motherboard? I thought most decisions are made on the Raid card itself, with the little proc on it along with the mem buffer and firmware....

Since I'm working for my Server +, I'd like to have more insight.

Cute

[JustADude]

Now if i wanted to move the card from Box A to Box B, this would NOT work? (Move card and all 5 drives)

Okay, THAT should work, since you're moving the card. The RAID-Zero (aka Stripped) Array I have is on a controller that's built into the MoBo, therefore not portable.

[Pedersen]

JustADude is right: If you're moving everything, it should work just fine. I've even done that exact same thing.

My reply was because he said his RAID controller was built into his motherboard.

Basically, if you can get the exact same controller in the new machine, then your array should be portable. Otherwise, all bets are off.

With that in mind, I've moved arrays between different models here at work, and been lucky, as the array was recognized correctly. But until I did it, I had no way of knowing if it would work, and could only hope it would.

[Cutenoob]

Ah. You must have used up a bit of Karmapoints on that one then.

From what I've been taught, same to same: don't change environment on the hardware you're moving.

Good to learn tho, thanks!

cutenoob

[Kilamon]

Get Acronis TrueImage. This will create exact image snapshots of your drives on your external drive, perform expansion or contraction of partitions and be the one tool you'll ever need to use for all your partition operations. This is what I used when I moved from a single, standard drive to a raid5, then back to the single drive later when I upgraded from raid5 on the SiI chipset to raid5 on the Adaptec chipset (a PCI Express card instead of the onboard motherboard controller). Finally, I've used it to back up hard drives for friends when they bring me their computer bemoaning how it doesn't work any more (which could be due to the 130 viruses I found and the lack of any service pack or other patching, but that's another story).