Adding raid to existing system

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I have an ASRock A785GM-LE that supports RAID 1 in an already operating PC setup.  I want to add RAID 1 to the system.  Other than purchasing and installing the 2nd hard drive which will be the mirror, is it as simple as going into the bios, selecting raid under advanced properties, and rebooting, OR is this going to be a much more complicated process?  Is there an instruction manual or something similar showing what is required in an existing system?  Any insight would be helpful.  Thanks for any help.  Mark

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K75MAN Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 04 Jul 2015 Status: Offline Points: 3	Post Options Post Reply Quote K75MAN Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Adding raid to existing system Posted: 04 Jul 2015 at 5:51am
	I have an ASRock A785GM-LE that supports RAID 1 in an already operating PC setup. I want to add RAID 1 to the system. Other than purchasing and installing the 2nd hard drive which will be the mirror, is it as simple as going into the bios, selecting raid under advanced properties, and rebooting, OR is this going to be a much more complicated process? Is there an instruction manual or something similar showing what is required in an existing system? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks for any help. Mark
	MARK

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 24653	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 04 Jul 2015 at 1:21pm
	In order to set up a RAID 1 array and not lose data you will have to: 1 set your SATA controllers to RAID mode in BIOS 2 Boot into windows may need RAID drivers installed 3 Install the SATA raid utility available from your motherboard's support/driver page 4 Run it and create a new volume with both disks selected. 5 You should be prompted to select a data drive then a target copy drive. The copy drive will be erased completely so be sure you select them in the correct order. Read the instructions carefully. Be sure you get no warnings of data loss on the data drive. I know this works on intel chipset systems using the intel rapid storage utility. I can't find any info on the AMD equivalent but it is likely similar. I am not entirely sure this method will work on an AMD system but you will be prompted if data will be lost. Setting up the RAID array using the bios setup method will* involve data loss, or at least it has on every system I have set up with raid 1. I always set up raid 1 with new drives to avoid potential problems with data loss. It is also ill advised to set up RAID with old drives. Honestly I would opt for 2 new drives of the same brand and model, remove my data drive from the system, set up my RAID then use disk image to clone my data to the new RAID array. I would then slap the old drive into an external enclosure and use it as a backup drive. Obviously this is the ideal and finances often stand in the way If someone has better knowledge with RAID 1 on AMD platforms please do jump in here.