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RAID Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, is a form of safety data is better able or more on your storage system. If you are willing to commit sufficient disk, you can get the speed and performance. Today, however, we will show how to create a simple RAID configuration. The only option is either RAID 0 (not technically RAID, but we will soon) or RAID 1.

Take a look at RAID controllers integrated into motherboards, and further brief in Microsoft software RAID. Finally, we show how to configure the use latest Intel RAID Controller that allows the SSD to act as one large disk cache, provided that you have a chipset and processor Z68 Sandy Bridge.

Motherboard RAID controllers

In general, RAID motherboard drivers come in two flavors: chipset integrated controller chip and a third. Both can be configured by the BIOS or EFI all BIOS Setup program. These soft RAID support - while the controller intelligence, much of the design load for the management of RAID is in the driver. Some motherboards, very expensive systems designed for desktops can be fully accelerated RAID controller to calculate the download tasks of the CPU. For most users, the standard RAID motherboard is reliable, and often if you are not rebuilding the RAID array, then you will not see the lowest CPU utilization.

RAID

First, talking about RAID 0. Technically, it is not really RAID, RAID 0 because it is not redundant. Instead, there are two units striped together to alternate reads and writes. Reading and writing is theoretically doubled in a single disk, but it falls a little less than 2x speed.

that unless you absolutely, positively must have the fastest possible read and write, to avoid RAID 0. If an accident RAID 0 array, all data is lost. The exception is the SSD, which tend to be more reliable. But even the SSD have their share of problems, especially problems with firmware, so it is always possible to lose a RAID 0 configuration, including SSDs. If the SSD is running strongly, however, is likely to work well in RAID 0, too.

RAID 1 data on two hard mirrors. Thus, a pair of 2 TB creates a single RAID 1 volume of 2 TB Redundancy is the main advantage with RAID 1, and if one drive fails, your data is fully available on the second disk, probably good. You win some reading speed, but loses a bit of typing speed, but the differences are quite small. Note that RAID 1 is not a replacement for backups. You can still totally lose a RAID 1 for the external problems, such as the gigantic power arises fry your PC.

also available with most motherboards solutions RAID 5 and RAID 10. RAID 5 requires a minimum of three units. RAID 5 uses a parity stripe, which is one way to ensure data integrity without completely duplicating all data. It is redundant and scratches, the data stored on a RAID 5 is generally safe if a disk fails, but the playing time are much faster. However, because of the need to calculate and write parity band, the writing time can be significantly slower. RAID 10, sometimes called RAID 1 +0 combines RAID 1 and RAID 0 to give the speed and redundancy - but you need four 1TB drives to create a single 2 TB RAID 10 volumes. RAID 10 has a set of RAID 1 volumes and data striping across multiple disks. It is costly in terms of number of units you need, but provides both data integrity and speed. Once again, however, RAID 10, is not a substitute for a good backup strategy.

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This is just a partial list of RAID modes, but they also cover the most commonly available integrated RAID solutions mother.
A RAID

another "way" we will discuss, but it's not just RAID. The latest Intel Z68 boards support Intel SSD caching with fast storage technology from Intel. The SSD is used as a large cache for the hard drive. The maximum size of 64 GB SSD is today. The two units must be in RAID to use this feature.

Now let's walk through a quick installation guide. I create a RAID 1 in one case and in the second example, using an SSD as disk cache with fast Intel storage technology. I am with Intel ICH10R RAID controllers. Marvell and other drivers are similar, but reading the documentation - Each manufacturer offers different user interfaces and jargon
What RAID

Windows

RAID software built into Microsoft Windows from Windows XP works well enough, but there are some caveats that prevent their widespread use. (Note that XP can not create mirrored volumes or RAID 5, however.) This is not a performance issue, assuming you are using a CPU of the present generation. And it has its place, such as RAID systems without integrated controller.

A major limitation is the need to convert the units used by Windows Dynamic Disk RAID. Once the disk is converted to a dynamic disk, you can not do a basic disk without a thorough cleaning of the volume - it's a one way street. In general, Windows RAID is useful when other RAID controllers are not available, but with the availability of RAID controllers from Intel and other third parties, it is usually best to use them.

BIOS settings before

Before diving into the BIOS setup, first take a close look at the units. There are some basic rules to follow.

If you plan to use RAID 0 (in fact only suggested with SSD), make sure that the units are identical. With the SSD, in particular, make sure they are all the latest firmware.

If you plan to use RAID 1, which is a good idea to use identical units. If you use RAID 1, and the attempt to use disks of different capacities, the ability of an installation disk RAID 1 doubles is the same as the smallest capacity.
Avoid RAID 5 unless you are just building a backup solution. Write performance is much lower, and the calculation of the parity stripe can affect the performance of the processor slightly.

If you use RAID 10, make sure you have enough power to support four or more units.

choose which version of RAID you use, make sure there is adequate ventilation in the units before the fire at all. Life on the hard disk can be significantly reduced if heated too much, and increasing error rates.

Intel RAID Configuration

First, let's look at the creation of a RAID configuration on an Intel X58 motherboard. In this case, I will create two solid state drives as a RAID 0 stripe. RAID 1 is similar, just select the RAID 1 option in the BIOS, but keep in mind that the ultimate capacity of RAID 1 is the same as the smallest unit in a two-disk array

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