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Case Study: How to create a RAID 0 (stripped) Array

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Raid 0 Array (Stripped) Create a RAID 0 (stripped) array using the Western Digital serial ATA RAID controller and two serial ATA drives.

Note: A RAID 0 array is not fault tolerant. It is recommended that you backup any important data that you decide to store on the array.

To create a RAID 0 array please follow the steps below:

  1. With the computer powered off, follow the instructions for installing the RAID controller correctly and connect both Serial ATA hard drives to the controller.
  2. Boot your computer with the controller and drives already installed.
  3. Watch your boot screens for a prompt that will ask you to press the Control and F keys at the same time to enter the Fastbuild utility and press those keys to enter.
  4. Press the 1 key to enter Auto Setup.
  5. Verify that the top of the screen says Optimize Array for: Performance.
  6. If the top of the screen says Security instead of performance, highlight the word Security and press the right arrow button to change the word to Performance.
  7. You should see that two hard drives are being used in the array and you will also see the total size of the array in MB.
  8. Press the Control and Y keys at the same time to save the array configuration.
  9. Press the Y key to create and quick initialize the array.
  10. You will be warned that all data on the drives will be erased, press the Y key to proceed.
  11. The array is now created, press any key to reboot.

To use the array for extra data storage only:

  • Install the latest service pack for your operating system to enable large drive support and use Disk Management to partition and format the array.

To use the array as your bootable system drive:

  • Set your BIOS to boot to CD first and boot from your Windows 2000/XP CD to load your operating system onto the array.
  • Windows will treat the array as one large drive and will install on the array just as it would on a single drive.
  • When you are prompted by Windows setup to press the F6 key to install SCSI or RAID drivers, you will need to press F6 and insert the driver disk that came with your RAID controller card.
  • Once the drivers for the card are installed you will be able to finish the installation of Windows 2000/XP onto the array. After the installation of Windows, please install the latest service pack for Windows to enable large drive support and avoid data corruption.

Note: Your system BIOS may require you to change the order of your boot sequence before you can boot your computer from a controller. For more information about adjusting options in your system BIOS, please contact the manufacturer of your computer or motherboard.

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Primary Partition VS Extended Partition

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Primary Partition VS Extended Partition A hard drive can be divided into primary partition and extended partitions. Partitions function as physically separate storage units. This allows you to separate different types of information, such as user data on one partition and applications on another. A hard drive can contain up to four primary partitions, or up to three primary partitions and one extended partition, for a maximum of four partitions.

There can be only one extended partition on a hard disk, so you should include all remaining free space in the extended partition. Unlike primary partitions, you don’t format extended partitions or assign drive letters to them. You divide extended partitions into segments. Each segment is a logical drive. You assign a drive letter to each logical drive and format it with a file system.

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How to reduce the chance of hard drive damage by ESD

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hard drive damage Hard drives are highly sensitive precision instruments that read, write, and store information on spinning magnetic disks. Special handling is required to protect hard drives from damage. Hard drives can be damaged by excessive physical force or from Electrostatic Discharge (ESD).

ESD damage is usually invisible to the eye and may not be discovered until much later, either through intermittent performance or failure. By using the proper procedures outlined in this article, you can reduce the chance of hard drive damage by ESD.

  • Before removing the hard drive from its ESD bag, prepare tools and cables to install.
  • Keep the hard drive inside the ESD bag until you are ready to physically install the hard drive into the computer system.
  • Wear a grounding strap if available – especially if near sensitive devices like memory, controller cards, or other electronic boards.
  • With the computer turned off (but still plugged into the power source), touch bare metal on computer case, then unplug the computer’s power cable*.
  • Do not let others touch the drive.
  • Hold a hard drive by the sides, taking care not to touch the PCB connectors or Printed Circuit Board assembly.
  • Install drive without walking on carpet or moving about in any way that generates static electricity.
  • Do not drop, jolt, or shake a hard drive. This action could damage the internal components of the drive.
  • Avoid subjecting the hard drive to extreme temperatures.
  • Do not stack hard drives.
  • Do not stand hard drives on their sides.
  • Do not place anything on top of a hard drive.
  • Never force or hammer a hard drive into a computer bay.
  • Use caution when installing data and power connectors to avoid damaging connector pins.
  • Do not obstruct or cover any air filter holes on the drives.

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Basic Disk VS Dynamic Disk

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Basic Disk VS Dynamic Disk Basic Disks in Windows 2000/XP/Vista:
A basic disk uses the normal partition tables found in MS-DOS and Windows. The volumes contained on a basic disk will be basic volumes, such as primary and extended partitions, and logical drives. Basic disks may also contain multi-disk volumes created by Windows NT 4.0 and earlier (volume sets, stripe and mirror sets, and stripe sets with parity). Windows XP will not support these types of multi-disk basic volumes. With Windows XP, you should back up your data and then convert these to dynamic disks prior to installing Windows XP Professional.

Dynamic Disks in Windows 2000/XP/Vista:
Dynamic disks are supported in Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional. Windows XP Home Edition does not support dynamic disks. Dynamic disks contain simple volumes, spanned volumes, striped volumes, mirrored volumes, and RAID-5 volumes. Dynamic storage allows you to perform disk and volume management without having to restart Windows.

Dynamic disks are only supported in Windows Vista Ultimate, in Windows Vista Business, and in Windows Vista Enterprise. Generally, dynamic disks are not supported in Windows Vista Home Basic or in Windows Vista Home Premium. However, when you upgrade your computer from Windows XP Media Center Edition to Windows Vista Home Premium, some dynamic disks are supported.

General Information

  • On a basic disk, a partition is a portion of the disk that functions as a physically separate unit. On a dynamic disk, storage is divided into volumes instead of partitions.
  • Storage types are separate from the file system type; a basic or dynamic disk can contain any combination of FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS partitions or volumes. Please note that the creation of FAT16 volumes will be limited to 2GB or less, FAT32 volumes will be limited to 32GB or less. NTFS volumes do not have a capacity limitation.
  • Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional accommodates both basic and dynamic storage. A disk system can contain any combination of storage types. However, all partitions or volumes on the same disk must use the same storage type (Basic or Dynamic).

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A slave hard drive is not assigned a drive letter in Windows 2000/XP

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image Why is my slave drive not assigned a drive letter after either moving it from one system to another system or installing Windows 2000/XP?

Problem:
A slave drive is recognized in Disk Management, but it is not assigned a drive letter after Windows 2000/XP installation or moving it from one system to another system, with both systems running Windows 2000/XP.

Cause:
Proper steps were not taken to move the drive from one system to another.

Affected Products:
All EIDE drives in Windows 2000/XP.

Resolution:
The information below is provided as is without any warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. Western Digital will not be liable to you for any damages, including any loss of profit or savings, arising out of the use or inability to use the information contained in this document.
The following information appears in the Microsoft Windows help file for Disk Management. It has been modified for formatting purposes only.

Before you disconnect the disks, make sure the status of the volumes on the disks is Healthy. If the status is not Healthy, you should repair the volumes before you move the disks.
Turn the computer off, remove the physical disks, and then install the physical disks on the other computer. Restart the computer that contains the disks you moved.

Using Disk Management:
To open Disk Management, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel
  2. Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
  3. In the console tree under Storage, click Disk Management.

Once Disk Management is open, follow these steps:

  1. Click Action, and then click Rescan Disks.
  2. Right-click any disk marked Foreign, click Import Foreign Disks, and then follow the instructions on your screen.

Notes: You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.

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Jumper settings for WD 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch EIDE drives

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WD Jumper settings Two different protocols can be used for jumpering EIDE devices, including disk drives. One is the master-slave relationship. With this protocol, one device is jumpered as master and the other is jumpered as slave. The second protocol is cable select. With this protocol, both devices are jumpered as cable select and their position on the cable dictates which device is the master and which device is the slave. The end device is master while the device on the middle of the cable is slave. You can use either of these protocols but you cannot mix them on the same data cable. Both methods refer to having multiple devices attached to the same IDE cable and have options for single drive installations (only 1 drive installed on the system).

1. For Western Digtial 3.5″ EIDE hard drives:

WD Jumper settings

A) Cable Select Configuration Options for PC Systems:

If you have determined that your system and all other IDE devices support Cable Select, please use the following information to connect your IDE drive. The jumper should be on pins 1-2.

Installing the new drive as the only drive in the system:
If you are connecting your drive as the only IDE drive on the cable, then there is no need to change the jumper pin on the drive. Simply connect the drive to the black connector at the end of the cable.

Installing the new drive as the primary (Master) drive:
If you are connecting your drive as the primary drive on the cable with another IDE drive, there is no need to change the jumper pin on the drive. Jumper the other IDE drive as Cable Select. Connect the drive to the black connector at the end of the cable for the system and the other IDE drive to the gray connector located at the middle of the cable.

Installing the new drive as the secondary (slave) drive:
If you are connecting your drive as the secondary drive on the cable with another IDE drive, there is no need to change the jumper pin on the drive. Jumper the other IDE drive as Cable Select. Connect the drive to the gray connector in the middle of the cable and other IDE drive to the black connector located at the end of the cable.

B) Master/Slave Configuration Options for PC Systems:

Installing the new drive as the only drive in the system:
If you are connecting your drive as the only IDE device on the cable, then move the jumper shunt on the drive from pins 1 & 2 to pins 4 & 6. Once the jumpers have been configured, connect the drive to the black connector at the end of the cable.

Installing the new drive as the primary (Master) drive:
If you are connecting your drive as the Master drive on the cable with another IDE device, move the jumper shunt on the drive from pins 1 & 2 to pins 5 & 6. Then configure the jumper on the other IDE device as Slave. Connect the drive to the black connector at the end of the cable, and the other IDE device to the gray connector located at the middle of the cable.

Installing the new drive as the secondary (Slave) drive:
If connecting your drive as the secondary drive on the cable with another IDE device, move the jumper shunt on the drive from pins 1 & 2 to pins 3 & 4. Then configure the jumper on the other IDE device as Master. Connect the drive to the gray connector at the middle of the cable, and the other IDE device to the black connector located at the end of the cable.

2. For Western Digital 2.5″ EIDE hard drives:

WD Jumper settings

A) Cable Select Configuration Options for PC Systems:

If you have determined that your system and all other IDE devices support and are using Cable Select, please use the following information to connect your IDE drive. The jumper should always be on pins B-D for Cable Select installations.

Installing the new drive as the only drive in the system:
If you are connecting your drive as the only IDE drive on the cable, please ensure that a jumper is connected to pins B-D on the 2.5″ drive. Simply connect the drive to the end of the cable.

Installing the new drive as the primary (Master) drive:
If you are connecting your drive as the primary (Master) drive on the cable with another IDE drive, please ensure that a jumper is connected to pins B-D on the 2.5″ drive. Please ensure that the second (Slave) IDE drive is jumpered as Cable Select as well. Connect the primary (Master) 2.5″ drive to the end of the cable and the second (Slave) drive to the middle connector of the cable.

Installing the new drive as the secondary (Slave) drive:
If you are connecting your drive as the secondary (Slave) drive on the cable with another IDE drive, please ensure that a jumper is connected to pins B-D on the 2.5″ drive. Connect the 2.5″ drive to the middle of the cable and other (Master) drive to the end of the cable.

B) Master/Slave Configuration Options for PC Systems:

Installing the new drive as the only drive in the system:
If you are connecting your drive as the only IDE device on the cable, no jumper is needed on the 2.5″ drive. Connect the 2.5″ drive to the end of the cable.

Installing the new drive as the primary (Master) drive:
If you are connecting your drive as the Master drive on the cable with another IDE device, no jumper is needed on the 2.5″ drive. Ensure to configure the jumper on the secondary (Slave) IDE device as Slave. Connect the primary (Master) 2.5″ drive to the end of the cable, and the secondary (Slave) device to the middle of the cable.

Installing the new drive as the secondary (Slave) drive:
If connecting your drive as the secondary drive on the cable with another IDE device, please ensure that a jumper is connected to pins A-B on the 2.5″ drive. Configure the jumper on the primary IDE device as Master. Connect the 2.5″ (Slave) drive to the middle of the cable, and the Master IDE device to the end of the cable.

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Hard drives greater than 2 TB do not work on existing operating systems

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2TB hard drive External USB, eSATA, Firewire, and internal hard drives over 2 TB’s cannot be formatted on Windows 32-bit operating systems using the Master Boot Record (MBR) partitioning scheme. As a result, when you connect drives over 2 TB’s, depending on which interface you are using to connect them to the computer, they may not be recognized at all, they may be only partially recognized, or they may be recognized but you can’t access them. Other issues such as the system locking up or the computer not being able to boot may also occur.

Cause:
This not an external or internal hard drive issue. It is a 2 TB volume limitation caused by the Master Boot Record (MBR) partitioning scheme that has long been used by Windows 32-bit operating systems such us Windows 2000 and XP.

Solution:
In order to use a drive larger than 2 TB’s, you will need an operating system that can partition and format that drive. Windows Vista, Windows XP (64-bit), Mac 10.4, and Mac 10.5 all have this capability through the GUID Partitioning Table (GPT). The GUID partitioning scheme has the ability to partition both internal and external drives far beyond 2 TB’s in size.

Below are some things to keep in mind when considering the use of drives larger than 2 TB’s:

  1. Windows 2000/XP (32-bit) has no issues with Network storage drives larger than 2 TB’s since they are accessed indirectly through the network.
  2. Windows XP (64-bit) only recognizes external hard drives larger than 2 TB’s that are connected by USB.
  3. You need to know in which partition scheme, MBR or GPT, your Windows Vista operating system is installed. If it’s MBR, you will still have the same issues as in Windows 2000 and XP.
  4. Windows 2000/XP will have no problems formatting a 2 TB Raid 1 (Mirrored) drive in the MBR format. However, it will not be able to convert that 2 TB RAID 1 drive to a 4 TB RAID 0 drive.
  5. Likewise, Windows 2000/XP will not be able to convert a 4 TB RAID 0 external drive to a 2 TB RAID 1 drive. You will need the use of a computer running Windows Vista (using a GPT partition), XP (64-bit), or Mac 10.4/10.5 to convert the drive from 4 TB RAID 0 to 2 TB RAID 1.
  6. Windows 2000/XP will not be able to convert any 2 TB, or smaller, GUID partitioned drive to an MBR partition through Window’s Disk Management. This will require a utility, such as DLG Diagnostics, that can write zeros to the drive so it can be partitioned and formatted through Windows 2000/XP.

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Error Messge: "DISK BOOT FAILURE".

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Disk Boot Failure Problem:
Error Messge: “DISK BOOT FAILURE“, while booting the system.

Cause:
There are several causes for this error message. The boot sequence may not be properly set in the system BIOS. Another cause is the presence of non-bootable media in the floppy or CD-ROM drives. The drive may not be properly configured or detected in the system BIOS. Incorrect Jumper Settings or a defective IDE cable may also be responsible.

Resolution:

  • Make sure that your boot sequence is correctly set. Generally, you should set the boot sequence to boot to the floppy drive first, then the hard drive, and the CD-ROM drive last.
  • Check your floppy drive and CD-ROM drive for media and remove any that you find.
  • Verify that your drive is properly detected in the system BIOS.
  • Verify that your Jumper Settings are correct.
  • Power off the system, replace the IDE data cable and try to boot again.

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How can I test my hard drive for defects or problems in a Mac?

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Mac systems have an excellent diagnostic utility included in the operating system called Disk Utility. You can find Disk Utility within the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder on the boot drive. You can also find this utility by booting directly to the operating system installation CD/DVD.

1. Go to Disk Utility and click on it.

Disk Utility

2. Choose the drive you wish to test by selecting the drive or partition on the left window pane and then selecting the First Aid tab.

Disk Utility

3. Click Verify Disk to check a drive/partition for errors but not repair them.
4. Click Repair Disk to check a drive/partition for errors and repair any that it finds.
5. Click Verify Disk Permissions to check the permissions on a drive/partition but not repair any errors.
6. Click Repair Disk Permissions to check the permissions on a drive/partition and repair any errors.

Note: You cannot check or repair permissions on a FAT32 (MS-DOS) partition. Only the Mac OS Extended (HPFS+) file system supports permissions.

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