Dell Precision 490 Desktop User's Guide - Page 24

Because data is striped across the RAID configuration, as it is in a RAID 0 configuration, it can be quickly accessed. Also, because of the parity data, if only a single drive fails, that drive can be rebuilt using the parity data on the other drives. The amount of storage space available to three 120-GB RAID level 5 drives is 240-GB on which to store data, since the equivalent of one drive is set aside for parity data. A minimum of three drives is required to create a RAID level 5 configuration. Configuring Your Computer for RAID At some point you may want to configure your computer for RAID if you did not select a RAID configuration when you purchased your computer. You must have at least two hard drives installed in your computer to set up a RAID configuration. For instructions on how to install a hard drive, see Drives. To configure a RAID hard drive volume, use the Intel RAID Option ROM utility before you install the operating system onto the hard drive. You must set your computer to RAID-enabled mode before starting any of the RAID configuration procedures in this document. Setting Your Computer to RAID-Enabled Mode NOTE: This procedure is only possible if you ordered your computer with a RAID configuration. 1. Enter the system setup program (see System Setup). 2. Press the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight Drives, and press . 3. Press the up- and down-arrow keys to highlight SATA Operation, and press . 4. Press the left- and right-arrow keys to highlight RAID Autodetect /AHCI or RAID Autodetect/ ATA, according to your preferences; press , and then press . For more information about RAID options, see System Setup Options. 5. Press the left- and right-arrow keys to highlight Save/Exit, and press to exit system setup and resume the boot process. Configuring Your Computer for RAID Using the Intel Matrix Storage Manager NOTE: This procedure is only possible if you ordered your computer with a RAID configuration. If you already have one hard drive with the operating system installed on it, and you want to add a second hard drive and reconfigure both drives into a RAID volume without losing the existing operating system and any data, you need to use the migrating option for a RAID level 0 configuration (see Migrating to a RAID Level 0 Configuration), a RAID level 1 configuration (see Migrating to a RAID Level 1 Configuration), or a RAID level 5 configuration (see Migrating to a RAID Level 5 Configuration). Create a new volume only when: l You are adding two new drives to an existing single-drive computer (and the operating system is on the single drive), and you want to configure the two new drives into a RAID volume. l You already have a two-hard drive computer configured into a volume, but you still have some space left on the volume that you want to designate as a second RAID volume. Creating a RAID Level 0 Configuration NOTICE: When you perform this operation, all data on the RAID drives will be lost. NOTE: This procedure is only possible if you ordered your computer with a RAID configuration. 1. Set your computer to RAID-enabled mode (see Setting Your Computer to RAID-Enabled Mode). 2. Click Start and point to Programs® Intel(R) Matrix Storage Manager® Intel Matrix Storage Console to launch the Intel Storage Utility. If you do not see an Actions menu option, you have not yet set your computer to RAID-enabled mode (see Setting Your Computer to RAID-Enabled Mode). 3. On the Actions menu, select Create RAID Volume to launch the Create RAID Volume Wizard, and then click Next. 4. On the Select Volume Location screen, click the first hard drive you want to include in your RAID level 0 volume, and then click the right arrow. 5. Click a second hard drive. To add a third hard drive in your RAID level 0 volume, click the right arrow and click on the third drive until three drives appear in the Selected window, and then click Next. 6. In the Specify Volume Size window, click the Volume Size desired, and then click Next.