How to implement soft RAID under Windows NT/2000

RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) means a redundant array of inexpensive disks, a fault-tolerant method that provides a high level of availability and redundancy by logically concatenating a large number of disks. As we all know, the hardware RAID solution is an effective method, but its cost is very high … … Windows NT/2000 provides embedded software RAID, RAID0, RAID1, RAID5. Because of the considerable savings that can be made, many SMEs can use software methods.

NT Server supports RAID1 (disk mirroring) and RAID5 (stripe set with parity). NT also supports RAID0 (stripe set without parity). This method does not provide data redundancy, but provides performance. Gain. NT Workstation does not support fault-tolerant RAID (RAID1, RAID5) but supports RAID0.

1. Managing RAID5 on NT

Creating RAID5 stripe set with parity is to consider that the disk does not lose data when it fails. The steps are as follows:

Run " ;Disk Administrator"(Start→Programs →Administrative tools→Disk Administrator);

Select at least three free space areas on three different physical disks;

From the Fault Tolerance menu Select Create Stripe Set with Parity;

Enter the desired size and click OK.

[Note] When a member of "Stripe set with parity" fails, the user does not receive any warning and the system continues to run. As an indication, when the user runs "Disk Administrator", a system event log is generated, in which the location space of the partition is recorded. You can recreate the Stripe set by performing the following steps:

Replacing the fault-tolerant disk and starting NT;

Running Disk Administrator;

Selecting the required Stripe set and then selecting the new physical disk A spatial area that is not partitioned;

Select Regenerate from the Fault Tolerance menu.

With the above steps, you can recreate a corrupt Stripe set.

To delete a stripe group, perform the following steps (note that this will lose all data information on the stripe group):

Run Disk Administrator;

Select the desired deletion Stripe group;

Select Delete

from the Partition drop-down menu to confirm the deletion.

2. Managing RAID1 on NT

To create a mirror partition (RAID1), first create a primary partition and then create its mirror partition.

Run"Disk Administrator";

Click on the existing partition that makes up the primary partition and press Ctrl;

Click on the unpartitioned area of ​​disk space ( You must select an unpartitioned space area instead of an existing one.

Select "Establish Mirror" from the "Fault Tolerance" menu.

Select from the Partition menu "Commit Changes Now", copy start;

Reboot the machine after completion. If a mirrored partition is corrupted, you can use the following steps to fix it:

First of all, you must ensure that there is an unpartitioned space, at least the same size as the primary partition;

Run"Disk Administrator" ;

Click on the workspace of the execution partition, hold down the Ctrl key, and select the unpartitioned space;

Select "Establish Mirror" from the Fault Tolerance menu.

This will repair the damaged Morror group.

If the component of the fault-tolerant set is lost (for example, loss due to hardware failure), a message "A disk that is part of a fault-tolerant volume can no longer be accessed" will be displayed. Part is no longer accessible), this drive is still available, but the image is suspended because no secondary disk is available. At this point, the Mirror group should be disconnected and repaired. The steps to disconnect are as follows:

Run Disk Administrator;

When a message is displayed stating that the disk is missing, click Mirror;

Select Break Mirror from the Fault Tolerance menu;

Confirm the operation.

3, Manage RAID5 in Windows 2000

Windows 2000 introduces a dynamic disk mechanism, all members of the RAID volume set must be on a dynamic disk. Therefore, to install RAID on 2000, you must first convert a disk to dynamic. Perform the following steps to convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk:

Start "Computer Manager MMC snap_in"(Start → Programs→Administrative Tools→Computer Manager);

Select Expand Storage→Disk Management;

Right-click on the disk and select Upgrade to Dynamic Disk;

Select the disk to be upgraded. Click OK;

When the summary is displayed, click Upgrade.

[Note] Converting a basic disk to a dynamic disk does not require a reboot, but any volume on the disk will pop up a message after the conversion. It can be restarted before using these volumes. I personally think through the experiment. It is not necessary to perform a reboot until all the volumes have been identified and all dialogs are popped up.