• Welcome to Poasters Computer Forums.
 

News:

Welcome to the ARCHIVED Poasters Computer Forums (Read Only)

Main Menu

Does two drives in RAID 1 have to be identical?

Started by Llhweiir, May 03, 2009, 13:43 hrs

Previous topic - Next topic

Llhweiir

Simple question - does two drive in a RAID 1 configuration have to be identical?

For example, I currently have a 250GB SATA II drive that runs at 7200RPM and has 8MB of Cache. If I want to use this drive in a RAID 1 configuration, can the new drive have a larger cache or perhaps a higher maximum RPM?

Buffalo2102

They don't have to be identical to work.  It is better if they are as similar as possible - differences can lead to performance issues but they should still work.  They will have to have identical size/format partitions on each though.
Vista x64 Home Premium. Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Abit IP35, 4 Gig Kingston HyperX PC8500C5 DDR2, GTX260, Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer, Antec 900 Gaming Case.

Mark H

As Bill mentioned, they don't have to be identical, but could have issues as he described. To expaned on it, you will lose storage capacity if you use to different sized drives in a RAID 1. For example, if you have a 500 GB and 400 GB drive, you RAID drive will be 400 GB, so you lose 100 GB of capacity.

Mark H
Enjoy the nature that is around you rather than destroying it.

Buffalo2102

I must sound like Bill.

Buff; always wondered what I sounded like on the internet.
Vista x64 Home Premium. Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Abit IP35, 4 Gig Kingston HyperX PC8500C5 DDR2, GTX260, Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer, Antec 900 Gaming Case.

Bill

Antec 3700 | Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R | Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz | 4 GB (4x1GB) DDR2 PC 5300 Kingston RAM | Antec NeoPower 550W | eVGA GeForce 9500GT 1GB 128 bit PCI Express 2.0 | Intel SSD X25-M 80GB | VelociRaptor 150GB | WD 80GB 7200rpm |Samsung 22x SATA Burner |Windows 7 32-bit

scuzzy

I'm glad it's not just me. I always thought that Bill and Buff sounded a lot alike.
Antec Performance TX640B Case | WinXP Pro SP3 & Win7 64-bit | Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R | Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale LGA 775 3.16GHz Dual-Core | 8GB (4x2GB) PC6400 G-Skill RAM | eVGA 7600GT 256MB PCI-E | 74GB WD Raptor SATA 16MB Cache | 74GB WD Raptor SATA 8MB Cache | 320GB Seagate Barracuda SATA 16MB Cache | External 640GB WD Caviar SATA 32MB Cache | Sony DRU-V200S DVD/RW | PC Power & Cooling Silencer 500W | Samsung SyncMaster 2494 (24") LCD Monitor | LG Flatron W2361V (23") LCD Monitor

Bill

Antec 3700 | Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R | Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz | 4 GB (4x1GB) DDR2 PC 5300 Kingston RAM | Antec NeoPower 550W | eVGA GeForce 9500GT 1GB 128 bit PCI Express 2.0 | Intel SSD X25-M 80GB | VelociRaptor 150GB | WD 80GB 7200rpm |Samsung 22x SATA Burner |Windows 7 32-bit

Mark H

Quote from: Buffalo2102 on May 04, 2009, 06:52 hrs
I must sound like Bill.

Buff; always wondered what I sounded like on the internet.

LOL, it was too early for me to be typing that message.

Mark H
Enjoy the nature that is around you rather than destroying it.

Buffalo2102

Quote from: Bill on May 04, 2009, 14:28 hrs
Blimie, gov.

B

I'm guessing that Dick Van Dyke was your language teacher?

Buff; and a chimney sweep.
Vista x64 Home Premium. Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Abit IP35, 4 Gig Kingston HyperX PC8500C5 DDR2, GTX260, Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer, Antec 900 Gaming Case.

Bill

Right as rain Pilgrim.

Bill; I like westerns too.
Antec 3700 | Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R | Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz | 4 GB (4x1GB) DDR2 PC 5300 Kingston RAM | Antec NeoPower 550W | eVGA GeForce 9500GT 1GB 128 bit PCI Express 2.0 | Intel SSD X25-M 80GB | VelociRaptor 150GB | WD 80GB 7200rpm |Samsung 22x SATA Burner |Windows 7 32-bit

Llhweiir

Even though we got away from the topic... I thank you for you answers! :-)

My solution: I stopped worrying about RAID at all - and will most likely buy a Neatgear Duo instead...