Setup raid 1 external hard drives

Alternatively, never touch exposed contacts or electronics. Unplug your PC and position the case so that you can comfortably reach into the interior. Typically, a single screw secures the bracket. Remove the adapter card from its packaging, handling the card by its edges not the edge connector on the bottom ; avoid touching the chips and circuitry on either face of the card.

Secure the card to the chassis with the existing screw or other clamping mechanism. Once the card is installed, install and connect the hard drives to be used in the array.

Each RAID adapter has a firmware configuration program, unique to that make or model, that lets the user select the type of RAID array to install and choose which hard drives to include in the array. Refer to your adapter or motherboard documentation to guide you through the specific installation steps for your adapter. Be quick: You have only a few seconds to press F6 and launch the installation process. Press S. Once done, you should be able to see the drives attached to the RAID controller.

It can be difficult, and sometimes impossible to transfer an existing operating system installation to a RAID array. It all depends on the hardware and Windows operating system involved. Follow the steps below for the best chance of success. Start over. Create a backup image in a safe, accessible location external hard drive, flash drive, hard drive not to be included in the array, etc.

Preferably one with bare metal restore capabilities, i. Reboot and create your array. Preferably, with new disks while keeping your old disk as a backup. The software or hardware is said to be absent or not configured in the operating system if the drives are named after the model number or the manufacturer of the hard drive.

When you reboot Windows, the best way to see the status is to check out the setup screen, which usually contains tools to gauge where the problem lies. Hence, you are a step closer to how to solve the problem.

How to setup RAID 1 from an existing drive? You need an additional empty hard disk, the same size, or larger the size of the current disk. Or else, you need to have a new hard drive in case increased redundancy and better performance are key elements to what you are looking for.

The Windows operating system is adjustable by using the raid 1 mirroring system, which allows you to keep data from half the mirror intact while you delete the other half. A lot of speculations arise when there is a sudden shutdown, making it key to understand whether the drive has failed or is it the result of some other factor.

The most uncomplicated way is to unplug it one by one and try to reboot the computer. It is still functioning well if the computer continues to boot. Hence, a backup from time to time is significant to prevent a sudden deletion of the relevant files. In case of a drive failure, a BIOS system in Windows usually informs the system if something is falling apart.

Besides that, using the disk utility function on the system proves to be vital to know the status of the drive. It is possible to access the hard drives during reconstructing it, but it is recommended that the process should not be interrupted to avoid any roadblocks in the performance. To make these strenuous tasks easier for you, it is important to reach out to professional data recovery services for professional help with an extra hand regarding data protection in raid 1.

Small businesses usually look for a cost-effective way to not only improve their performance and speed but also data protection. A raid 1 can be the perfect solution to the needs of such enterprises.

A minimum of two drives is required for the raid 1 setup, whereas raid 5 requires a minimum of 3 disks. The number of drives combined can be further added to increase speed and efficiency in business operations. Still making it a cheaper alternative for small businesses as compared to the other options. The Windows operating system will show an alert on the screen in case of a failure but you can continue working with the operating files, making raid 1 an optimized and uncomplicated option.

In the background, the operating system will continue to boot from the other working disks and copy the data on them to ensure nothing is lost. Since all the blocks in raid 1 are mirrored, if one drive gets corrupted, the next thing you know is data on all the drives are corrupted. It will prompt you of a driver error at which point your screen should look like this:.

Your screen should look like this:. Select the drivers you need for the installation then click on Next. After doing this your screen will prompt you to select the drive you want to install your new Windows 10 Operating system on then click on Next again. Your screen will look like this:. Your operating system will now begin installing.

From here, you should be completely set up in whichever raid configuration 0 or 1 you chose. If you have any questions or if you need further elaboration on a specific part of the process let me know and I will get back to you immediately! With a background in IT and Physics, Christian has experience with computers, music, photography, and augmented reality technologies.

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