How do I span data across two IDE drives; treating them as one drive?

Question

OS - Windows 2000 server
I recently upgraded my backup device to 1TB and am looking to install a new IDE drive on my server, which would bring it up to a matching 1TB.

I have read some information about 'extending' which would entail me creating or recreating a partition, using the disk management snap in, but I want to do this right the first time and wasn't sure if this was the one and only way.

To further define what I want and why, I have a photos directory on driveA. I don't want that drive to fill up (which it inevitably will), and have to recreate another photos directory on driveB.

So I want to avoid:
F:(500gIDE) --> 1TB backup device
G:(500gIDE) --> 1TB backup device

And have something essentially as:
F:(2x500gIDE) --> 1TB backup device

I would like to avoid having to lose the server data, even temporarily, if possible, but if it is necessary I can. I had a server crash last year and am just overly cautious now.

Thanks all

Answer 1

Well setting up RAID is a good option if you know what you are doing. RAID 5 is the best though because hot swappable which means if one drive fails you only have to replace the drive and your work will still be there but you need 3 Drives minimum



RAID 0 is not good for Server's because the information is spread across two drives (horizontally) making it look like one drive but the RAID setup makes your computer read the configuration as one drive. Which means no Redundancy.



You could setup RAID but it is quite expensive unless your Motherboard is raid able? then you can set it up or you would need to buy a separate RAID controller.



You could set up software RAID by right clicking on my computer. Click Manage then click Disk Management.



Your Partitions of the Disks have to be the same size and you need to convert all your disks to Dynamic Disks. You can do this by right clicking on Disk 0, 1 etc and click Convert/Change to Dynamic.



Once you have done this format the drives and Rick click on then and click New volume and click Spanned, Striped or Simple.



The problem with Software RAID is if your computer crashed you could lose everything permanently.



I also forgot to mention RAID1 is good because its mirroring, What's on one drive is on the other which is simple and its like you have copies of everything.



Also Bubbie, You should know that RAID 0 is predominantly used for speed not redundancy. Meaning the RAID configuration makes your computer see the two drives as one with the information Spread horizontally over two drives.

Answer 2

Dogs will fight. It is natural. The only thing dog fighters do is train the dog to fight to the death. Dogs are not stupid. They know when to stop. Oh and just for your information, pits were not bred to fight other dogs. They were actually bred to bring down bulls hence the name "pit bulls". The reason dog fighting is cruel is because if the dog loses it is either electrocuted, shot, drowned, abused etc. Not to mention the injuries the winner have. Wolves fight too but when was the last time you have heard of 2 wolves mauling each others face off? It is also cruel the way they train the dogs. They muzzle up and tie up another dog and let their pit bite him to taste the blood. They tie weights to their torso and ankles and necks. They put them in cages with other animals like cats, pigs, and other dogs for them to kill and eat. It is true what you are saying. Only some dogs that have that aggressive, feisty temper are used to fight. But to tell you the truth, not all pits have this. I would say only about 2-5% of pits have this temper. In reality they are just big sweet hearts. The only reason they are used for fight is because they are a cheap, large, and muscular dog. So I hope this answered your question.

Answer 3

Two 500GB drives can be set up as a 1GB RAID 0 array.

Answer 4

you will need to fresh format both drives with a RAID compliant controller card .