I am running Raid 0 (Striping) on a used WD80JB (perhaps one year old) and a brand new Maxtor 80GB 8MB. I've only been doing this for a month, and I'm starting to get read errors. Also, the computer runs Chkdsk pretty much every time it starts. Everything is still working, but errors pop up here and there. Does Raid 0 significantly decrease hard drive lifespans? Does using mismatched drives (same approx. size and speed, but different brands, thus real world differences) increase the risk of problems?
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Raid 0 Reliability
- Thread starter xxaaqq
- Start date
RAID 0 in and of itself dosn't decrease the life of a drive, but it increases the chance of loosing your data by 100% (two drives, if one of them fails all the data is gone)
Missmatched drives on a cheaper controller could cause problems as they will respond to the controller a little differently.
Personally I don't think RAID 0 is ever worth it. Everyone that I know who has used RAID 0 eventually lost the array. (at least 15 people) If you keep the data backed up it is not a big deal, and I must admit, it worked for 3 years for my brother in law before his failed. But even still, I just don't want the bother.
My plan is to eventually spend the cash and get a 3ware or Promise SX hardware RAID 5 card. (but I will probably wait for PCI Express Serial ATA ones)
==>Lazn
Missmatched drives on a cheaper controller could cause problems as they will respond to the controller a little differently.
Personally I don't think RAID 0 is ever worth it. Everyone that I know who has used RAID 0 eventually lost the array. (at least 15 people) If you keep the data backed up it is not a big deal, and I must admit, it worked for 3 years for my brother in law before his failed. But even still, I just don't want the bother.
My plan is to eventually spend the cash and get a 3ware or Promise SX hardware RAID 5 card. (but I will probably wait for PCI Express Serial ATA ones)
==>Lazn
If your getting read errors you have some type of problem.
Take the drives out of the computer. (remember where they hooked up). Install them to another computer and run the mfg's diagonstics disk and check them for errors.
You should have both drives the same make and model.
Take the drives out of the computer. (remember where they hooked up). Install them to another computer and run the mfg's diagonstics disk and check them for errors.
You should have both drives the same make and model.
I
Ice Czar
Guest
Originally posted by xxaaqq
Does using mismatched drives (same approx. size and speed, but different brands, thus real world differences) increase the risk of problems?
It can
diffent brands employ different algorithms, since they are "acting" differently" (even to a very small extent) the RAID controller has to deal with that, generally it just decreases performance.
Also some algorithms\models of HDDs are better at a given RAID level than others.
there is also the W2K\XP SCSI driver issue
(IDE RAID employs SCSI drivers, hopefully that will be addressed in XP SP2
in addition you might want to check your RAM, System & Memory Timing (especially tRAS) ect
Risks to your data
and lastly, your cables could be the problem
PATA is truthfully over extended at this point
SATA and the 7 Deadly Sins of Parallel ATA
ATA Not So Frequently Asked Questions
"The following article was written by snn47 to address some of the issues associated with standard ribbon cables and the use of e.g. removable drive racks as an attempt to share some insight into factors that can adversely affect the life or reliability of of desktop Hard Disk Drives. Specifically, issues like why some drives are working in some systems and not in others, the impact of cable routing and why is it that the drive manufacturers always recommend using their own cables (if supplied with the drive)."