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View Full Version : hdd questions for my new build.

inflames988
08-20-2006, 06:59 PM
OK, so my new build im going to need a couple faster hard drives, and i will also be using my pATA hard drives (1x 250GB, 1x 80GB) for storage purposes (DVD ISO's, iTunes music library, digital photos, etc).

i am going to start by buying just one sATA hard drive, a WD 250GB or 320GB (still unsure as to which) with 16MB cache. eventually i want to get one or two more. the problem with this is, im going to eventually have somewhere between 4-5 drives. is there a way i can set up some of these drives in "JBOD" (just a bunch of disks) RAID so that some of them will show up as one big drive? do i have to buy two of the same drives to do this?

im thinking of putting the o/s on one of the new sATA drives, OR on the old 80 gig. would the 80 gig pATA slow it down alot? i like to keep my o/s ona small drive, (but i dont have the money for a raptor!)
ktkendall
08-20-2006, 07:04 PM
RAID is basically for backup purposes, data is automatically copied from the main drive to the other drives in the RAID array so you always have an up to date backup of your main drive in case it crashes. There is no way I know of to make 1 big drive out of several drives, as far as I know each will need it's own drive letter.
inflames988
08-20-2006, 07:10 PM
RAID is basically for backup purposes, data is automatically copied from the main drive to the other drives in the RAID array so you always have an up to date backup of your main drive in case it crashes. There is no way I know of to make 1 big drive out of several drives, as far as I know each will need it's own drive letter.

thx, i have definetely heard of JBOD though. its not actually a true type of RAID, i should have specified that...you are right, RAID implies redundancy (backups) and true raid would not just be combining two drives into one big one.
jayb1234
08-21-2006, 05:07 AM
Make sure you get a motherboard with 2 IDE channels, so that you have somewhere to plug your old hard drives and optical drives in without having to buy an add-on card. A lot of the newer models only have 1 IDE. The 80Gb will be fine for the OS. Check the motherboard manual to see if you should set up a RAID ready configuration or not. Personally, I'm not a fan of RAID, It is pretty easy to set up scheduled backups instead.
ktkendall
08-21-2006, 09:01 AM
You may be correct about the JBOD thing it's just that I have not encountered it or seen it around, but that surely does not mean it is not possible.
Cricket
08-21-2006, 10:11 AM
Have you thought about installing those IDE/PATA HDDs into some external HDD housings?

:) Cricket
inflames988
08-21-2006, 06:41 PM
Have you thought about installing those IDE/PATA HDDs into some external HDD housings?

:) Cricket

yeah i have a housing for one of them