F5Loar
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F5Loar asked on
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Need Steps to Configure Raid-1 in Windows 7 OS.

Intent is to set up home server on RAID-1, accessable via web in the future, hopefully with a domain.
Purchased refurb HP A6528 and two (2) brand new WD Black 750GB HDD.
Plugged HDD into SATA 0 and SATA1.
Enabled RAID in BIOS.
Restarted machine, pressed F4, then Ctrl+I and created RAID volume using max. (both 698GB volumes show as "members")
Installed clean Win7 Home Premium (64) obtained via college participation via MSDN.
Setup set aside 100MB 'reserved' space, and loaded OS in C:\ with a start size of 698GB.
Opened Disk Management. Only one volume (volume0) appears. Right clicked and made it "dynamic" and rebooted.
Opened Disk Management again, and fault tolerance indicates "No".
Tried to right click to "extend the Volume", but it has always been grayed out (I AM an administrator).
Repeated this process with same results.
What am I missing to establish RAID-1 fault tolerance?

Shawn - Support Engineer
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Shawn - Support Engineer replied on

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Hi FSLoar,

Thanks for posting. If I understood your setup correctly you have a hardware RAID setup on your motherboard. With this you won't be able to do another RAID using Windows. Because you have made the RAID on a hardware level Windows does not control it and looks at it like it is just one drive. So the fault tolerance you are looking for is actually already in place.

Because this is a hardware raid and not a software RAID controlled by Windows you will not be able to change any portions of the Mirror and must perform these actions at the BIOS/Hardware level. If you want to use Windows to control your RAID array you will need to format both drives and break the hardware mirror. Doing this will allow Windows to detect this as 2 hard disks. From here you can go into disk management, convert the drives to dynamic, and then create your mirror.

Hope this helps.
Shawn - Support Engineer - MCP, MCDST
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer
Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think
thomas ferguson
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thomas ferguson replied on
I admit that I am easily confudddled. You first mention Home Server and then Windows 7. How is one related to the other in you following words? Those words seem to address a RAID arrangement for Windows 7. I believe that MS recommends that Home Server _not_ be installed on a RAID. (WHS Getting Started Guide, p 17).

OK. I will ignore that and concentrate on the RAID 1 setup.

If you set up RAID using the facilities in the BIOS to create a RAID 1 set, you already have a fault-tolerannt volume. You can then set up Windows 7 in the usuall way. If Windows 7 does not have the RAID drivers (that does not seem to be an issue in your case), you must arrange to make them available to setup.

If you set up RAID using the facilities of Window's Disk management, you leave the BIOS set as IDE or AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface). Using the Windows facility, I believe you can only set up RAID 0. This is actually not a RAID configuration but rather has some characteristics in common. However it provides no rerundancy and so is not fault tolerent.

Hope this is useful.
Tom



F5Loar
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F5Loar replied on

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Thanks Thomas. Sorry so late reading and replying.
First, this has nothing to do with "Windows Home Server" software. I'm simply trying to create a server at home.

Here's whats happened since the original post:
1. Removed HDD that came in the PC and mounted 2 (two) 750GB blank (new) WD HDD into SATA0 and SATA1 port on the motherboard.
2. Powered up, pressed F4, then Ctrl+I after POST. Set up both 'inventoried' drives as a pair, or a RAID mirror (RAID-1). DID NOT set as AHCI or IDE!
3. Saved and rebooted.
4. When asked, inserted Windows 7 Professional (64) DVD and installed a clean OS.
5. Opened MS Disk Management utility; it reported a single Volume, which is correct for a RAID-1, but reported "No" under the fault tolerance column (by definition, RAID-1 provides fault tolerance). 6. Upon advice, and for a "second oppinion, I installed Intel's Storage Matrix Manager for the Intel ICH9 chipset and rebooted.
7. Opened Intel's program and clearly saw the single dynamic "Volume0";  printed the report showing 2 physical members (hard drives) and one volume; indicating a RAID array in a normal status.
8. MS Disk Management utility STILL shows No Fault tolerance. THIS IS A CONFLICT.
9. Rebooted, pressed F4, then Ctrl+I and teh RAID was still there as reported by the BIOS.
10. Repeated step 8 (above) and MS still says No fault tolerance - STILL a conflict.

I don't really know how to report this to Microsoft or otherwise get 100% assurance that the RAID is fully finctional. I would hate to think the solution is to physically disconnect one of the HDD's and reboot, then disconnect the second drive and booting again. There must be a way for the OS or utilities to report the same status as 3rd party software and the BIOS, but I haven't found it yet. One expert on HP forum site said to DISREGARD what Microsoft Disk Management says and rely on what Intel says - this seems to confirm the BIOS report, but it still feels like a "loose end" to me.

Regards,
Bob

thomas ferguson
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thomas ferguson replied on

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I understand that you are unhappy with the apparent conflict of messages as between the BIOS and Intel RAID utility report and the report givenb by disk services. However, it is intended behaviour.

The BIOS and INTEL utility are reporting in the status of the RAID as set up in the BIOS. The RAID that you set up was set up under the BIOS facilities so it is reoprting the status of that RAID.

You did not set up a RAID under the Windows disk management facilities. MS Disk Services is not invoked and thus is not providing fault tolerence. The message from that source reflects that fact.

That is my interpretation.

Now, if you want to let MS know that you find that situation confusing, see if anything here fits your need:
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/cu_sc_more_master?ws=mscom#tab0

Tom
Shawn - Support Engineer
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Shawn - Support Engineer replied on

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Hi FSLoar,

Thanks for posting. If I understood your setup correctly you have a hardware RAID setup on your motherboard. With this you won't be able to do another RAID using Windows. Because you have made the RAID on a hardware level Windows does not control it and looks at it like it is just one drive. So the fault tolerance you are looking for is actually already in place.

Because this is a hardware raid and not a software RAID controlled by Windows you will not be able to change any portions of the Mirror and must perform these actions at the BIOS/Hardware level. If you want to use Windows to control your RAID array you will need to format both drives and break the hardware mirror. Doing this will allow Windows to detect this as 2 hard disks. From here you can go into disk management, convert the drives to dynamic, and then create your mirror.

Hope this helps.
Shawn - Support Engineer - MCP, MCDST
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer
Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think
realdpk
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realdpk replied on

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Hi Shawn, everyone,

Like the OP, I am also trying to set up RAID 1/mirroring in Windows 7 Home Premium 64. I have gotten as far as converting my drives to dynamic. What should I do next? The "New Spanned Volume" and "New Striped Volume" context menu items are grayed out.

If it matters, the disks are MBR rather than GPT.

If it is not possible to set up mirroring here, how do I convert C: back to a basic disk?
realdpk
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realdpk replied on

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Well, maybe it's not possible. I tried following some steps I found elsewhere describing how to do it using the diskpart CLI tool. It indicated that slices were not available on my "version" of Windows.

This is weird. When you look at Microsoft's official feature comparison page, ( http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/compare/default.aspx ), which describes differences between the myriad versions of Windows 7, RAID nor disk striping is not mentioned.

What is the minimum version of Windows 7 required to set up something basic like disk mirroring?

To MSFT documentators: I think this is something that should be mentioned in the built-in help.
thomas ferguson
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thomas ferguson replied on

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I don't know what information you were consulting or steps you were following. Perhaps the following is worth the effort:

Navigate to the Disk Services component of Computer Mamagment, right click on the unpartitioned/unformatted space on the listing for one of the disks you want to use for the RAID and select More Actions.

If there is no unpartitioned space on the drive, you will not see the option. So, make sure there is nothing on the drive you want or need or that it is backed up, create space on the drive and try again.

Me, I would start with raw disks and create the RAID using the facilities in the BIOS. To do that, you need the driver software from the chip-set maker. It is already present in Win 7 for many chipsets. If oy is not, you have to provide the drivers to Windows during the setup process or create a setup DVD that has them 'slipstreamed' into it.

Tom

Lyle Craver
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Lyle Craver replied on

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I am being quoted on a laptop with 2 x 500 gb drives which i would like to mirror and am also wondering how I go about finding which versions of win 7 support (or do not) support my plan. I am currently using a 500 gb USB drive for backup but would like to mirror if possible as I really don't need 1 Tb for my data files and software.

 

If  the info is available anywhere in msft.com a URL would be all I need.

thomas ferguson
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thomas ferguson replied on

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Windows 7 support for disk mirroring exists in Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions.

If the laptop comes with two HDs, it is probable that the BIOS supports creating a mirror set. In that case, Windows 7 sees the array as one HD and it is "out of the equation" for the actual drive setup. In that case, all Windows 7 versions will operate correctly with it.

Tom Ferguson

Palcouk
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Palcouk replied on

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I am being quoted on a laptop with 2 x 500 gb drives which i would like to mirror and am also wondering how I go about finding which versions of win 7 support (or do not) support my plan. I am currently using a 500 gb USB drive for backup but would like to mirror if possible as I really don't need 1 Tb for my data files and software.

 

If  the info is available anywhere in msft.com a URL would be all I need.


All win versions can be configured in raid, but only if your motherboard / bios supports it. 2*500gb mirror raid will show as a single drive of 500gb.

But why do you want to use mirror raid, its not a replacement for a backup or clone of a single drive

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