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    important RAID 1 question swapping one HDD

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Sir Punk, Mar 5, 2011.

  1. Sir Punk

    Sir Punk Notebook Deity

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    i have a dual bay external enclosure with two WD 750GB in RAID 1 mode.

    anyways, I am going to sell one of the two WD and then buy a 2.5". how do I make sure that when I plug in the new hard drive the RAID 1 does not copy the empty one into the full one but viceversa. I know the raid will rebuild the other drive right away. No software management came with the enclosure.
    I do not want to lose all my data obviously.
    is there a way to check that the raid is actually working?
    this is on win 7 pro.

    plz help.
    Edit/Delete Message
     
    Sir Punk, Mar 5, 2011
    #1
  2. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    Well the answer is simple instead of selling one of the two before you buy the 2.5" - buy the 2.5" first and keep the 2nd (backup) copy until you can ensure it got rebuilt (the RAID) properly.

    Good luck.
     
    tilleroftheearth, Mar 6, 2011
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  3. Sir Punk

    Sir Punk Notebook Deity

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    i need a software to monitor the status of the raid? i tried the intel manager but it's no good.
     
    Sir Punk, Mar 6, 2011
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  4. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

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    +1 to this.

    Always make sure you have a backup before rebuilding a RAID array.

    Your RAID array *should* properly rebuild from the pre-existing drive --> blank drive. But there is always the risk of the opposite happening. All it takes is a misread message prompt, a wrong click on a configuration menu, poor documentation from the vendor, the wrong jumper / DIP switch, etc, and your data could be wiped out.

    Always make sure you have a backup before rebuilding a RAID array.
     
    kent1146, Mar 6, 2011
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  5. Sir Punk

    Sir Punk Notebook Deity

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    well that's a great idea. but i am still having a problem of not having a piece of software to work with it. the only thing in the manual is setting the jumpers and i think disk 0 has the priority.
     
    Sir Punk, Mar 6, 2011
    #5
  6. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

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    What is the make / model of the RAID enclosure you are using?

    That might help.
     
    kent1146, Mar 6, 2011
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  7. Sir Punk

    Sir Punk Notebook Deity

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    it's a kingwin dual bay tb235
     
    Sir Punk, Mar 6, 2011
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  8. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

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    Honestly, the best thing to do is to send an email to Kingwin, asking them for the correct procedures to replace a dead drive in a RAID-1 array using their TB325 enclosure.

    I sent a similar email to Vantec when one of the drives in my RAID-1 drive enclosure took a dive, and they replied with a list of correct steps. Kingwin should be able to get back to you rather quickly with instructions on what to do.

    But again, be sure to have access to a backup before attempting the restore. If all else fails, you can completely destroy and rebuild a blank RAID-1 array, and then restore your data to it from backups.
     
    kent1146, Mar 6, 2011
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  9. Pirx

    Pirx Notebook Virtuoso

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    No, there is no disk that "has priority". When a RAID array is built, the RAID BIOS writes configuration information on both drives, and it will recognize the drive "that does not belong" once you have inserted it. In other words, the rebuild should work automatically, and correctly, without you having to worry about anything. That's the whole point of a RAID1 array: If either one of your drives dies, no matter which one, all you have to do is replace the dead drive with a new one, and the RAID BIOS will take over from there and rebuild the array. There is no need to fiddle with jumpers or anything archaic like that.

    Nevertheless, as has been said before, rebuilding an array like that is a serious operation, and should not be performed without some sort of a backup.
     
    Pirx, Mar 6, 2011
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  10. Sir Punk

    Sir Punk Notebook Deity

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    thanks for your answer. i found out that i have a steelvine controller and downloaded their software and now i can verify and rebuild the array.
     
    Sir Punk, Mar 20, 2011
    #10