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Thread ID: 79732 2007-05-30 07:24:00 Adding a second hard drive JMoore (9352) Press F1
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554397 2007-05-30 07:24:00 Hey there, I'm looking to add a second hard drive to my PC but just have a couple of questions I wouldn't mind getting cleared up...
I currently have a 200GB SATA hard drive partitioned into a 40GB programs/OS and a 160GB files drive. I am looking to add a 320GB SATA hard drive.

1. I have vaguely heard that there are advantages to using a RAID 0 configuration, can someone please advise if this is recommended?
2. Is it easy to reassign drive letters so that the hard drives are C E F for example, or is it not worth it?
3. Is it possible to "combine" the storage space so that it shows up as one drive (for example) in explorer?
4. I assume I set second hard drive as "slave" could someone please confirm this.

If anyone has any knowledge or can answer any of these questions it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance... 		JMoore (9352)
554398 2007-05-30 07:29:00 1. No not worth it. If one hdd fails/dies so does the other. But then I think the size of the hdd's would have to be exactly the same.

2. Yup If u use XP, change it in disk management in control panel.

3. Maybe if it was in RAID.

4. No SATA's dont have Slave, only Master. Master/Slave is only used on IDE hdd's, not SATA's.

You can only use one SATA on one SATA connection, not 2 like IDE. 		Speedy Gonzales (78)
554399 2007-06-01 05:40:00 You can add extra drives no problem.
You can re-assign drive letters no problem (well from NT, Win2k, XP you can)
You can run raid if either your mboard supports it or you get a raid card.

If your mboard does not support more drives then take a look at a Promise Card. You can get quite a range of cards that allow you to add ATA or SATA.

I have a Promise ATA133 controller and a Promise SATA T4 controller on this PC and currently have 7 HDD's in the box with room for more.

I keep my OS & Programs on ONE HDD and eveything else on other drives, I don't partition as if a drive is lost then both partitions are normally dead anyway. I backup to External HDD's Both Firewire and USB Seagates.

You can buy big HDD's up to around 1000Gb now, maybe more.

BTW I tried a SATA controller from Dick Smith and that caused me some problems. I have Promise brand on this and my other 2 PC's. 		Bantu (52)
554400 2007-06-01 08:56:00 1. RAID 0 is worth it if you don't mind double the risk of data loss and want faster read/write speeds.

2. It is easy, but if you have links to other HDDs/partitions like docs and such the links will become invalid if you change the drive letter.

3. If you have RAID yes, JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks) is like RAID but it is not technically RAID, it combines the HDDs into one HDD and different sizes are fine.

4. No, not SATAs, they run on their own channel and don't even have master/slave/cable select jumpers! all SATAs are treated as masters. 		The_End_Of_Reality (334)
554401 2007-06-01 16:16:00 Why not just JBOD the system as you have unequal sized hdds?

I used this option...and still do, really, on a 500g each/8 hdd server system for all my vid and MP3 files. 		SurferJoe46 (51)
554402 2007-06-02 04:47:00 You can buy big HDD's up to around 1000Gb now, maybe more.


cost per megabyte the 250 and 320GB sata drives are the best buy right now (www.pricespy.co.nz)

so if the motherboard supports it, buying four 250s would be cheaper (just run them under jbod) - you'd save around $300 		motorbyclist (188)
554403 2007-06-02 05:41:00 cost per megabyte the 250 and 320GB sata drives are the best buy right now (www.pricespy.co.nz)

so if the motherboard supports it, buying four 250s would be cheaper (just run them under jbod) - you'd save around $300 the 320GBs are the best value for money at this time...

Just think running 4 250GBs in JBOD increases the possible HDD failure by 4 :eek: :p 		The_End_Of_Reality (334)
554404 2007-06-02 06:14:00 but if one dies that's only a quarter of your data gone ;)

and only buy as you need them - save even more $$

(and i do know the 320's are better buys, but 4*250 gives 1000 whereas 3*320 is 40mb short 		motorbyclist (188)
554405 2007-06-02 06:43:00 I am not sure on JBODs... If one dies, can you still access the data on the other drives? and if you take out one dive and put into another PC can that PC see the data that is on the HDD? and add HDDs when you want to the existing JBOD?

I am sure you mean 40GB :p ;) and don't forget the capacity that gets lost in formatting and all that ;) 		The_End_Of_Reality (334)
554406 2007-06-02 07:00:00 lol oops motorbyclist (188)
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