RAID 5 with 3 disk home pc Windows 7

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harvs45

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#59277 31-Mar-2010 16:26

Hi

Can someone please give me some advise on the above array. I have My Intel raid controller telling me that I have an at risk disk. If I take the disk out the array does not function although I have been told that it should still run in a degraded state? Is this dependant on what raid controller I have or something? Also I am concerned that if I get a replacement disk as this is still under warranty, will the raid write to the replacement disk (it will be the same disk) or will it be compromised as raid 5 requires 3 disks minimum and technically I would only have 2 with the third to be added back in. hope this makes sense to someone?

cheers

Regan

jaymz

1133 posts

Uber Geek

#313563 31-Mar-2010 17:36

If your RAID 5 setup has a failed disk then it should definately keep functioning (that is the whole point of a RAID setup)

It does depend on your controller on how it will handle a new disk been installed. A controller that is smart will automatically rebuild a failed drive for you.

If your controller does not support it, it should allow you to rebuild it either through the windows based software or in the controller's BIOS.

When you are removing the drive, are you certain that you are removing the failed drive, if the system is not booting after you remove it then it suggests that you are removing a disk other than the failed one.

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harvs45

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#313566 31-Mar-2010 17:50

Thanks for the quick reply.

The disk hasn't as yet failed but is at risk which I believe usually happens before failure? If I remove a disk that is at risk rather than failed will that make a difference? My sata ports are 1 on top on the other and as a result I am struggling to identify the exact port so it may be that I pulled wrong one off - in saying that the smart event tag was not showing in the raid bios on the remaining 2 disks..

cheers again