Need help with raid 0

[ibnyinc]

i have a 500gb seagate baracuda drive that i am using. i setup 3 partions . 2 partions is for dual booting xp and vista the 3rd is my data.

my question is that i want to install another 500gb seagate baracuda on raid 0. i dont care about the 2 os partions as i can rebuild and reinstall but my data partion is what i want to keep.

if i setup raid 0 will i lose my data and that partion or is there a way to setup the raid and wont effect the data partion.

can it be done and how do i go about doing that.

please help i dont want to lose my data. thank you in advance.

 

[jdillman1502]

Typically, the RAID has to be setup before there is data on the drive. During the RAID setup process the drive will be formatted. Also, if you're concerned about keeping your data, I wouldn't use RAID 0, use RAID 1. If something happens to one of the drives when using RAID 0, you will have a much harder time getting your data back.

 

[ibnyinc]

raid 1 isnt that mirror and i will only get 500gb the whole reason behind installing another drive is for space and a little more speed with the raid o

 

[jdillman1502]

Yes, RAID 1 is mirror so you do lose space (performance decrease is negligable, depending on what you're doing). The problem with RAID 0 is that it writes part of the data on each partition. So if you lose one of those drives, you need to purchase software that can rebuild the array to allow you to get your data back. It does give you more speed/space, but if the data is important I wouldn't put it on RAID 0 (unless you backup regularly).

 

[ibnyinc]

thanks for the help i am aware there is no redundancy just needeed to know if i can install without loseing the data partion i guess i woould have to backup the partion then install the raid and reinstall the data. or buy 2 drives and use this drive as a data drive.