Intel Matrix Storage: Where is the RAID information stored?

Hi all!

I am using the Intel Matrix Storage Technology (my MOBO has the ICH7R
chip) and I have a RAID-1 array with 2 harddrives. I have created the
RAID-1 array through a migration from a single drive using the Matrix
Storage Manager.

Now I am wondering where the information that defines my RAID-1 array
is actually stored - on the harddrives or somewhere in the option ROM?
I think that this is important to know if I want to make a software
backup of my data.

If the array information is on the drives will it be backed up by
Norton Ghost and how will I be able to restore my backup image to the
drives? If the array information is in the option ROM I am concerned
what will happen if the motherboard gets damaged an I have to replace
it. Will I be able to see my RAID-1 array in this case?

Unfortunately I could not get any info on the Intel site or on the Web
Thanks in advance for any information.

Regards,
Anguel

wrote:
Hi all!

I am using the Intel Matrix Storage Technology (my MOBO has the ICH7R
chip) and I have a RAID-1 array with 2 harddrives. I have created the
RAID-1 array through a migration from a single drive using the Matrix
Storage Manager.

Now I am wondering where the information that defines my RAID-1 array
is actually stored - on the harddrives or somewhere in the option ROM?
I think that this is important to know if I want to make a software
backup of my data.

Can't say for certain with the Intel RAID, but it's almost always stored
on the drives.


If the array information is on the drives will it be backed up by
Norton Ghost and how will I be able to restore my backup image to the
drives? If the array information is in the option ROM I am concerned
what will happen if the motherboard gets damaged an I have to replace
it. Will I be able to see my RAID-1 array in this case?

Ghost should see the drives in the array as a single volume, not
individually, and so will back up the array as with any drive.

If the board has to be replaced, the array information would likely only
be usable if the new board used the same type of RAID (i.e. Intel).
However, you would likely be able to access the data on the drives
individually and get the data off (with RAID 1 - this wouldn't be the
case for RAID 0).


Unfortunately I could not get any info on the Intel site or on the Web
Thanks in advance for any information.

Regards,
Anguel



--
Robert Hancock Saskatoon, SK, Canada
To email, remove "nospam" from
Home Page: http://www.roberthancock.com/

Hi Robert!

Thank you very much for the answer.

Robert Hancock wrote:

Can't say for certain with the Intel RAID, but it's almost always stored
on the drives.

Well ok, that's what I thought too, but on the other hand this was a
normal drive before the migration to RAID-1. So I don't think that the
Matrix Storage Manager has resized my partitions and I don't belive
that it has written the RAID array information into the MBR.

Ghost should see the drives in the array as a single volume, not
individually, and so will back up the array as with any drive.

That's right, it does a normal backup because it sees only one drive.
My concern is how it will write back the data if for some reason I have
to restore the data to clean drives (e.g. if my WinXP does not even
boot anymore). I think there must be someone out there who has done
this before

If the board has to be replaced, the array information would likely only
be usable if the new board used the same type of RAID (i.e. Intel).

That's clear, it has to be the same RAID controller.

Regards,
Anguel

I got the following answer from Intel support:

1. The RAID information is stored is the hard drives. If the
motherboard has to be replaced, you just need to make sure you install
these drives a motherboard that contains either the same ICH or later.
Data and RAID structure will be kept intact.

2. We do not support such utility from Symantec*. Most of these imaging
applications do not support RAID structures. In this case, you need to
contact Symactec*.

2) sounds like a std cop out.
I've used Acronis True Image without problems, on a different raid controler
sys

wrote in message
oups.com...
I got the following answer from Intel support:

1. The RAID information is stored is the hard drives. If the
motherboard has to be replaced, you just need to make sure you install
these drives a motherboard that contains either the same ICH or later.
Data and RAID structure will be kept intact.

2. We do not support such utility from Symantec*. Most of these imaging
applications do not support RAID structures. In this case, you need to
contact Symactec*.

Thanks for the info. I think that these imaging utilities do their job
very nice, although noone wants to support them officially...

old man wrote:
I've used Acronis True Image without problems, on a different raid controler
sys

Can you please give me some more info on the restore process? Did you
restore the image to a single RAID drive or to the RAID array?

Regards,
Anguel

I have tested it: Ghost 10 can restore the backup image to a single
drive that appears as a normal Non-RAID drive then. I have also posted
a complete RAID-1/Ghost HOWTO on alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt. Hope
it helps

Regards,
Anguel

wrote:
That's right, it does a normal backup because it sees only one drive.
My concern is how it will write back the data if for some reason I have
to restore the data to clean drives (e.g. if my WinXP does not even
boot anymore). I think there must be someone out there who has done
this before

In that case, assuming you want to still use the RAID setup, you would
re-create the RAID array (unless it's still intact) and restore onto the
array.


If the board has to be replaced, the array information would likely only
be usable if the new board used the same type of RAID (i.e. Intel).

That's clear, it has to be the same RAID controller.

Regards,
Anguel



--
Robert Hancock Saskatoon, SK, Canada
To email, remove "nospam" from
Home Page: http://www.roberthancock.com/