It sounds like Software Raid has improved on Windows since the last time I've tried it. We used it on a Windows 2000 server, with much fussing and failing. Since then, we have been using any available alternative, including built in raid on intel chipsets, (quite good actually, Especially the Matrix series and onward) add-in cards from Promise/3ware/LSI/Adaptec, (All with varying degrees of success) or Running our Windows servers within a virtual machine running on a Linux using the excellent software raid available on that platform.
If Software Raid on Windows has improved, I'd like to see where Microsoft mentions this in a tech article or release notes. --Matt Ross Ephrata School District ----- Original Message ----- From: Mike Hoffman [mailto:[email protected]] To: NT System Admin Issues [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:29:58 -0700 Subject: RE: Once more - software RAID > I'm just about to decommission an SBS box using software raid - been running > fine for 4+ years with a pair of mirrored 80GB drive. One drive failed 3 > years ago and the machine carried on. IT was the second drive so the > boot.ini was fine for the rebuild. > > Mike > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ben Scott [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: 08 October 2009 17:22 > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Re: Once more - software RAID > > On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 12:14 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > The machine will have the VMWare windows-based management software (it > will > > _NOT_ be an ESX host!), and once built should not have that much disk I/O > > (or so I'm naive enough to believe). > > In a pinch, can you install the VMware management software on a > workstation and get point-in-time functionality back without loosing > operational capability? If so, that sounds okay. If you *need* that > box working to manage your VMs effectively, I'd say it was as > important as the ESX hosts themselves. > > > If one drive fails, can the mirror be brokenor must one replace the failed > > disk and then break the mirror, or is one pretty much stuck with the > > software RAID 1 once it's created? > > As I recall, once you've made a mirror set, it remains a mirror set > for life. You can run it perpetually as a degraded mirror with one > missing member, though. > > Oh, and IIRC, creating a mirror set converts the partition system to > Microsoft's funky "Advanced Disk" format, which probabbly breaks most > third-party partition management tools. > > It's been years since I've touched a Microsoft RAID, so I reserve > the right to be wrong. :) > > -- Ben > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
