I've setup hardware raid 0 on prior PC's, but now with my new one I'd like to do something a little different. Right now the plan is to only have one hard disk, and 2 mobile disk trays which will be inserted for specialized needs. Figure I could keep the system quieter and lower power if I only accessed specialized storage on an as need basis.
For example, when I do a backup I'd like the backup software to do a cloned backup to two mobile rack removable SATA hard drives simultaneously. So far I've only found VERY expensive enterprise level server backup software that supports that kind of operation. The other idea is find a way to create an ad-hoc RAID 1 setup prior to backup when the removable disks are inserted.
Does anyone know if the built in RAID on the DS3R can handle this type of use? I wouldn't view going into a boot level disk utility as user friendly enough for this type of use. Are there software RAID utilities that could handle this type of thing? The OS will be Windows XP Pro.
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R and ad-hoc RAID 1
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You can build such a RAID1 with XP's disk management console or with Intel's Matrix Storage Manager. With the DS3R, it's your choice.
OTOH, I don't see a lot of point to having 2 identical backup drives when you use them on a schedule. I'd prefer to rotate my backup drives to have 2 generations of safety net.
OTOH, I don't see a lot of point to having 2 identical backup drives when you use them on a schedule. I'd prefer to rotate my backup drives to have 2 generations of safety net.
Thank you.
Didn't think XP Pro let you setup RAID1, but will take a look.
For my normal backups I'd agree with you regarding rotating two generations. I'm thinking of this other method for my photo database. The DAM software lets you move images to an off-line archived state with pointers and thumbnails on-line. You can have different archives, but the software doesn't understand multi-generational single archives. Thats why a clone of exact data is useful. Traditionally people went off to optical storage for this sort of thing, but with HDDs so large, inexpensive and fast it's a much more compelling approach to just use HDDs alone (but with precautions).
Didn't think XP Pro let you setup RAID1, but will take a look.
For my normal backups I'd agree with you regarding rotating two generations. I'm thinking of this other method for my photo database. The DAM software lets you move images to an off-line archived state with pointers and thumbnails on-line. You can have different archives, but the software doesn't understand multi-generational single archives. Thats why a clone of exact data is useful. Traditionally people went off to optical storage for this sort of thing, but with HDDs so large, inexpensive and fast it's a much more compelling approach to just use HDDs alone (but with precautions).