RAID 0 on HP Compaq 6350

[nethunter1]

Hello, I am trying to configure RAID on my HP Desktop. It's very old. I have Windows 11 Pro. I want RAID 0 Striping. I have (2) Identical Samsung Evo 860 SSD's. Both 500 GB. I can't get RAID to work. First, I tried turning on RAID in the BIOS/UEFI. I created an LD with the 2 Disks. When I rebooted it wouldn't load Windows. I used "Fast Initialization." It said it would delete the MBR. Both Disks are GPT. That was on Basic Disks. It checked for the Disks and it said the RAID Array was Working. Then I got a Black screen. Nothing happened. I tried "bootrec /fixmbr" etc... Won't start. Then I tried reinstalling Windows 11 with the RAID disks connected. From USB. I think I got a Black screen. I know it didn't work. Then I CTRL + F and Deleted the LD with the (2) RAID disks. Back to (2) separate Disks. Then reinstalled Windows 11. It booted fine. I think I left RAID on in the BIOS. (Not AHCI.) RAID on without the Disks connected. (2) separate. I noticed it says it will delete stuff when I change RAID to AHCI. So I left it alone. Then, I changed the Disks to "Dynamic." In Disk Management. They were Basic before. (Do I have to have Dynamic?) I went back to CTRL + F. Create a new LD with the (2) Disks. After restarting, it says "Non-System Disk. Replace and hit Enter." I tried a Windows USB and chose "Repair." On the Installer. Diskpart shows the Drives as "Invalid." So I entered "online disk" and "online volume." In diskpart. It says the Disks are already Online. So that's not working. I read that might be because they're Dynamic. A thread said to turn them on Basic. With Third-Party Software. (And delete RAID and boot into Windows.) No working RAID. "Create Striped Volume" in Disk Management is Greyed out. Even with RAID on and (2) separate drives. (Not AHCI.)

So, how do I set up RAID 0? Do I need Dynamic? I would like that. Can I install Windows with the Drives connected? Not sure with Dynamic On. I know I can't Dual-Boot. So I'm not sure about a new Installation on C:\. Boot drive. And what is diskpart "Invalid"? And  "Non-System Disk. Replace and hit Enter"?

Please reply. Thanks

[itsmyname · Accepted solution]

@nethunter1 -- Create a new LD with the (2) Disks. After restarting, it says "Non-System Disk. Replace and hit Enter." I tried a Windows USB and chose "Repair" 

Putting a disk-drive into a RAID-set deletes all the existing content on the disk-drive.

So, I think that you should have chosen "Install", since there is nothing left to be "repaired".

Do you really need RAID-0 when using SSD devices? 

What applications do you think will benefit from faster input/output than a single SSD can provide?

I would rather use RAID-1, to create a "mirrored" set. If one drive fails, all your files will still be available on the other drive, until you "rebuild" your mirrored-set.

[nethunter1]

Hi, I'm back. Thanks for the reply. I will try RAID 1. I don't really need a copy. That's why I was trying RAID 0. It's an extra Samsung SSD. I have no use for. So I thought I'd try RAID. My newer Desktop doesn't have the RAID option. In BIOS. I guess a Copy might be nice. I won't have to reinstall. Ever. I will try RAID 1 mirroring. And report back... Thanks

[nethunter1]

First, will RAID 1 Destroy my Current Drive? Data? Or will I have to reinstall after creating RAID 1?

[nethunter1]

Is Storage Spaces better? I read Dynamic Disks are deprecated. I was going to try Dynamic and Create Mirroring. In Disk Management. Or is BIOS RAID 1 Better? With Basic Disks? Which should I choose?

[itsmyname]

@nethunter1 -- yes, if you create either a "RAID 0" or a "RAID 1" set, the disk-drives will be "wiped".

> I will try RAID 1. I don't really need a copy. That's why I was trying RAID 0.

If one disk-drive in a RAID 0 (striped) set fails, your files are "gone" (unless you have a recent backup).

If one disk-drive in a RAID 1 (mirrored) set fails, your data is still present on the "good" disk-drive.

Replace the "failed" disk-drive, and the mirroring will be automatically restored, within a few hours.

Are you 100% confident that one of your disk-drives will NEVER fail?

How often do you make a good backup copy of the entire disk-drive?

[nethunter1]

Hi, I think I got it working. I don't use the Old Desktop often. So there's nothing important on it. This is what I tried...RAID 1...

First, I started the PC from a Windows 11 USB. I clicked "Repair" and opened a Command Prompt. Ran Diskpart. Cleaned both SSD's.

I went into BIOS. Switched from AHCI to RAID. Restarted. Hit Ctrl + F when the BIOS was scanning for RAID disks. Created a new RAID 1 Array. With the (2) 500GB SSD's. It said the size was 496 GB.

I restarted to the Windows USB. Installed Windows 11 to the 500GB SSD. After deleting and Formatting it. It only shows (1) SSD and a second 500GB Mechanical HD. It didn't show the second SSD.

Then, I booted into Windows. Setup everything and it works fine. I'm not sure if RAID 1 is working. It only shows (1) SSD. At 500GB. In Disk Management. And the second Original Seagate 500GB HDD. Is that correct?

It seems slightly faster. Overall in everyday use. I setup a bunch of Settings how I like. And installed a few Programs.  CCleaner, Webroot etc... And rebooted several times. Everything is working fine.

So did it work? How do I restore from my second SSD? If I need? Do I go into RAID settings? (Ctrl + F?)

Thanks for all the help. I like RAID 1 Mirroring. And will keep it. 

[itsmyname]

@nethunter1 -- Installed Windows 11 to the 500GB SSD. After deleting and Formatting it. It only shows (1) SSD and a second 500GB Mechanical HD. It didn't show the second SSD.

That is correct. Your RAID "set" appears within Windows to be one disk-drive. The motherboard handles the input/output for the "set", to do the "mirroring".

> How do I restore from my second SSD? If I need? Do I go into RAID settings? (Ctrl + F?)

In the event of a failure, when you reboot your computer, your BIOS will report the "failure" of the RAID set.

Use that CTRL-F to enter the RAID Setup, to identify which disk-drive has failed.

Shutdown. Remove the failed disk-drive. Purchase a replacement -- the storage capacity can be larger than the size of the "good" disk-drive.  For example, if you purchase a 750 GB disk-drive, and the size of the RAID set was defined as 500 GB, then only the first 500 GB of the 750 GB will be used. 

Still within RAID Setup, you can choose to "rebuild" the RAID set.  It will copy every byte from the "good" disk-drive onto the "empty" disk-drive. It may take an hour or two, depending on the speed of the disk-drives.

> It seems slightly faster.

If you are booting from the RAID set, the time from "power-on" to fully-loaded Windows should be much faster.  If you are booting from the single HDD, you won't see any improvement, until you read/write to the RAID set.

On my computer, I boot from an SSD, and keep all my Personal Files on a RAID set of two 500 GB "spinning" disk-drives.  I use Macrium Reflect to backup both the SSD and the files/folders on the RAID set, to an external disk-drive.

P.S. Within Windows "Device Manager", you should see the presence of the RAID set, instead of seeing two individual disk-drives.