Hard Drive cache

[jonbth]

I'm looking to replace my hard drives in my computer. I will most likely be using a raid configuration and was wondering if there is a big difference in performance depending on the cache size. Is there a noticeable difference between 8mb and 16 mb cache?

[glc]

If you are going to the hassles of using RAID, you have a reason. For the same reason, get 16mb cache drives. They perform SLIGHTLY better.

[jonbth]

Originally Posted by glc If you are going to the hassles of using RAID, you have a reason. For the same reason, get 16mb cache drives. They perform SLIGHTLY better.

I was thinking of using Raid 1 for back-up.

[glc]

Using an external drive for backup is a lot safer.

[jonbth]

Originally Posted by glc Using an external drive for backup is a lot safer.

Why is it safer? All hard drives can fail whether they are external or not.

[flanzig1]

External drives can be fully disconnected from a PC which will protect the data even if something in the PC goes bad which damage internal components. Rebuilding a RAID1 can be a hassle after losing a drive.

[glc]

Also, if you get a virus or something - it infects both drives. Doing backups or images when the system is known clean will avoid this possibility.

[rave]

for my dad's computer i made an image of a fresh install of windows and all the programs he uses. then to another hard disk i backup just important files where data is kept such as My Documents and Quicken data from the Program files using a free tool called EZ-Backitup. its simple.

if anything goes wrong, all he needs is to swap the drives and copy some files and he is back up