RAID 0 For Dummies Neutron 120GB

Hey, forgive the n00b Q. Building my first box. Going with RAID 0, I bought two Neutron 120 SSD (OS and programs), then two Velociraptor 250's (personal data, Email archive) for a D drive and two Velociraptor 300's (work data files) for an E drive.

MB is going to be a MSI Max Z97

OS 64 Bit, not sure if I'll go 7 or 8.1 though the build is eyed toward Win10

 

When building, I assume the to Neutrons go to SATA port 0 and then the 250's to ports 2 and 3 and so on.

 

Am I also correct in assuming I'll need to do little more than configure the RAID in BOIS, that the drives themselves should not require me to do anything (IE, use the toolbox, except for tweaks)?

 

I figure with a MTBF of 2,000,000 for the SSD that should last at least 10 years of 24/7 so the need to do other variations of RAID not worth the money spent (regular back ups are made off site)

Enable the RAID controller in the MOBO BIOS then configure the RAID in the RAID BIOS. Then install the OS. You should be good to go. Be prepared with a RAID driver for your RAID array on a USB drive or other external storage just in case your RAID controller is not recognized in the OS install process.

 

One side note, due to how the controller "sees" a RAID array, the toolbox will not work 2 with multiple drives in a RAID array.

Thanks for the quick response. Not sure I followed your last comment "...work 2 with multiple drives in a RAID array.

"

 

 

Did you mean the SSD tool, box will not be usuable with a RAID 0 and that it only works when the (say C drive) is a single drive??

Yes, the SSD toolbox will not work with a RAID array as it will not detect the individual drives in an RAID array.

Ok

Is there anything I should do with the tool kit prior to configuring the RAID?

Or is something I should not worry about?

I have other PC's it could be installed on and the drive then connected if (hopefully never) it needs attention. Make sense? Or should I forget about it and wait till I have a actual issue and revisit this? ;)

You could use the Toolbox to check the firmware and see if there are updates available. Most likely, your drives have the most recent firmware if you bought them recently.

LOL, so new that UPS has not delivered them yet.

 

Another question. So I'll have them in the RAID 0. No SSD Toolbox on the new box.

If there is an issue, could they be installed on another PC (non-RAID) as E, F (whatever) drives and run the tool kit on them or does that risk screwing up the stripping?

I also assume if I have a drive failure, I'll have to wipe the still good drive and replace the failed drive, then re-image/restore, right?

LOL, so new that UPS has not delivered them yet.

 

Another question. So I'll have them in the RAID 0. No SSD Toolbox on the new box.

If there is an issue, could they be installed on another PC (non-RAID) as E, F (whatever) drives and run the tool kit on them or does that risk screwing up the stripping?

I also assume if I have a drive failure, I'll have to wipe the still good drive and replace the failed drive, then re-image/restore, right?

 

most anything done in a raid will likely mess up the array ,,with raid 0,one drive change [failure] will affect the other...

you will have to break the raid in the bios first then they will be seen as individual drives if the need should arise (updating firmware etc..) then the RAID can be rebuilt in the bios and you can simply restore the data if you image it to another drive first.