Use RAID for desktop computer?

Use RAID for desktop computer?

I'm building a new computer over the summer. I'm fairly competent in computer hardware, and am thus building the computer from scratch. I have everything planned out, but I was wondering if I should consider RAID, and if so, which RAID to use. I plan to purchase 2x1TB drives. Currently I'm leaning toward RAID 1 for the redundancy -- I've heard newer super-capacity drives fail more often than one would think, and I don't want to have a problem and lose all my data. What do you think? My mobo supports RAID 0/1/5/10. Is it worth it to use RAID at all, or should I just use a backup service like Mozy? Should I consider RAID 0 instead, for the performance? I'm kind-of going back and forth on this one. Thanks a lot for your help.

Asked by: Guest | Views: 261

Total answers/comments: 5

Comments display order:

Guest [Entry]

"If data loss is your concern, please remember that RAID is not backup. I suggest you invest in some form of backup, whether it's a 'cloud' solution or a simple rsync job to another computer.

This way, you can have your RAID 0 for performance as well."

Guest [Entry]

"It may be worth considering using an SSD as the OS/applications drive, for excellent performance (see Anandtech for a review of the latest Intel X25-M drive).

I opted for this, with two non-RAID HDDs for data (plus an external drive for backup), which works well."

Guest [Entry]

"Do not bother. unless you're going to spend a pretty penny on a nice RAID card YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! raid systems built into consumer motherboards are shotty at best and completely unsupported.

RAIDS are only good for drives that die. file corruptions and the like are not prevented with a raid.

With the average lifespan of a hard drive being about 7 years you're better off just getting an SSD for your OS and page file and just a couple TB drives for data.

if you're insistent on doing a RAID I would do a RAID 5 using 3 drives and a 4th as a spare.(or if you get a good raid card 4 drives in the raid and a 5th for spare) it's a good combination of speed and reliability.

ALSO: keep in mind you should NEVER EVER for sake of performance keep your page file on a RAID of any kind (except a mirror where ALL drives are identical in every way). An operating system is constantly writing and reading the page file and all the added math and overhead it takes to write it to a RAID will degrade your performance."

Guest [Entry]

If you're between raid 0 and 1, check out 10. It's redundant (you'll halve your usable space), but you also get the reading performance gains of raid 0.

Guest [Entry]

"Use a small drive as your system drive, and then mount your larger drive within your smaller drive under a folder. Then it looks to your programs as if they're storing data on the C drive, while it's actually getting stuck on your big cheap media drive.

Windows XP and above have this capability."