Win7 software Raid

[Ubon94]

Wouldn't it be a good idea to setup software raid?
The fact that if you have a back up of OS, this should be very reliable right?

[Steve R Jones]

Except for the part about:

1) PC fries to the ground from lightening strikes
2) House burns to the ground and takes pc with it
3) Thief steals pc

But if none of the above happen - any backup is better then no backup.

[ua549]

Software raid fails if the boot volume fails because that is where the soft raid info is stored.
I've seen a soft raid volume lost because the non-raid boot volume containing the OS failed.

IMO If the OS isn't on a raid volume, soft raid for data volumes just makes you feel good without providing full protection. Just having an historical OS backup won't help much recovering a newer raid volume.

[Ubon94]

Software raid fails if the boot volume fails because that is where the soft raid info is stored.
I've seen a soft raid volume lost because the non-raid boot volume containing the OS failed.

IMO If the OS isn't on a raid volume, soft raid for data volumes just makes you feel good without providing full protection. Just having an historical OS backup won't help much recovering a newer raid volume.

It has to be in Dynamic volume for raid info to work?

[ua549]

Windows raid requires dynamic disk. My bad about where the LDM database is stored. It is stored in a 1 MB reserved space at the end of each dynamic disk. That said, there are registry entries that are required for the LDM and dynamic disks to be functional. Those are at risk if the boot volume which contains the registry fails.

[Ubon94]

So each disk keeps a copy of the same 1mb LDM file for redundancy?
Where does registry being kept at?

[ua549]

The registry is kept on the boot volume. That is the volume that contains the OS, not necessarily where the system boots, the system volume. I know it seems to be backwards, but that's the MS naming convention. The volumes can physically be the same.

[Ubon94]

So as long you have mirror or backup of OS volume..you should be safe?

[kent1146]

So as long you have mirror or backup of OS volume..you should be safe?

**TECHNICALLY** you are correct - you *CAN* make it work.

But to be honest, any data that is worth putting on a mirrored RAID array means that it is data that is worth keeping. Requiring one extra step / requirement to restore a failed system means that you introduce one extra point of failure, and one extra source of risk.

I would highly recommend that you go with hardware-based RAID, like your motherboard's onboard RAID controller, or an external USB/eSATA disk enclosure that supports RAID. That way, it is irrelevant if your OS disk dies, if your registry is corrupted, if you have a power surge that fries your motherboard, etc.

With hardware-based RAID, you can always take out a hard drive in the RAID array and mount it on ANY Windows or Linux system to access your data. Again, if your data is valuable enough to put on a mirrored RAID array, then it is valuable enough to invest just a little bit more time/energy/money to eliminate the potential risks that you get with software RAID.