RAID for primary or secondary?

[Munix88]

Hey guys, so I made the jump and laid down some fat (student loan) cash for a Mac Pro octo 2.8. I'm tricking it out with 16GBs trans intl. memory for max memory bandwidth and also bought two 320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 drives to raid along with the 500GB that will come with it. I will mostly be using the Adobe Creative Suite and After Effects CS4 on this.

The plan for the drives is a soft-RAID to use with OSXapple. With the 500 already installed I want to put Vista on for Windows only programs and the occasional game (since I know you can't use 2 OSes on a RAID). So my question is:

Would it be better to leave the 500 in and use it as the main boot drive for and Vista OR move it to the 3rd slot and use as a secondary drive and install fresh on to the RAID?

I have seen some of the benchmarks done on Barefeats.com which show that raided setups on Mac Pro really make no difference in boot time. Also, as a side note I am fully aware of the dangers of RAID and have an eSATA system already set for back up.

 

[SydneyDev]

(since I know you can't use 2 OSes on a RAID).

I think it's worse than that: if you use the soft raid, Boot Camp doesn't work at all - not even on drives that aren't in the RAID. Edit: on second thought I may be getting mixed up with the hardware raid. Perhaps someone else can confirm/deny.

 

[nanofrog]

Hey guys, so I made the jump and laid down some fat (student loan) cash for a Mac Pro octo 2.8. I'm tricking it out with 16GBs trans intl. memory for max memory bandwidth and also bought two 320GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 drives to raid along with the 500GB that will come with it. I will mostly be using the Adobe Creative Suite and After Effects CS4 on this.

The plan for the drives is a soft-RAID to use with OSXapple. With the 500 already installed I want to put Vista on for Windows only programs and the occasional game (since I know you can't use 2 OSes on a RAID). So my question is:

Would it be better to leave the 500 in and use it as the main boot drive for and Vista OR move it to the 3rd slot and use as a secondary drive and install fresh on to the RAID?

Personally, I'd put the 2x 320GBs in Bays 1 & 2. Create the RAID array under OS X. Keep in mind, the array will only be accessible by OS X. I presume you wish to stripe them.

Use the 500GB as a separate Windows drive, and locate in Bay 3. You can use Boot Camp, but it isn't actually needed, as it's installed on a separate drive. The Boot Loader is actually stored in the firmware. It loads first, then the OS of your choice.

I have seen some of the benchmarks done on Barefeats.com which show that raided setups on Mac Pro really make no difference in boot time. Also, as a side note I am fully aware of the dangers of RAID and have an eSATA system already set for back up.

Good to see you've planned for a backup solution. Certainly better than trying to burn a bunch of DVD's.

SydneyDev:
Software RAID is only accessible by the OS it was created under.

Hardware RAID can work in a multiple OS environment if it was designed to do so. They aren't exactly cheap, but depending on the specific needs, some aren't that bad. Boot capability vs. driver support can make a big difference in cost for multiple OS support.

 

[Munix88]

Nanofrog, I'm gonna need your address so I can send you a high five in the mail promptly. It'll just be $5.99 for shipping

I think that pretty much covers my question but I'm definitely open for more discussion.

On a side note nanofrog, how would I install Windows on another hard drive through OSX even if it's empty without using Bootcamp? I figured all drives needed a condescending roughing up by before they're able to use Vi$ta.

Thanks for the replies, keep 'em coming.

 

[nanofrog]

Nanofrog, I'm gonna need your address so I can send you a high five in the mail promptly. It'll just be $5.99 for shipping

LOL!

I think that pretty much covers my question but I'm definitely open for more discussion.

You can ask, but there is not guarantee for answers.

On a side note nanofrog, how would I install Windows on another hard drive through OSX even if it's empty without using Bootcamp? I figured all drives needed a condescending roughing up by before they're able to use Vi$ta.

Easy. Just stick the Vista Install Disk in, and start the installation. Just make sure to select to correct HDD.

 

[ObaMaciden]

Hey guys, so I made the jump and laid down some fat (student loan) cash for a Mac Pro octo 2.8.

Congrats! I just got mine and am waiting for various components to come in hopefully by Friday. Then I'll have a big weekend assembling and test....

BTW, as you are a student, don't forget that you can get the CS4 Design Premium for $350 (Reg $1799; Edu $599)!

 

[nanofrog]

BTW, as you are a student, don't forget that you can get the CS4 Design Premium for $350 (Reg $1799; Edu $599)!

Gotta love student discounts.

Now I'm getting jealous!

 

[ObaMaciden]

Gotta love student discounts.

Now I'm getting jealous!

FYI, the $350 for CS4 Premium Design is with the purchase of a Mac from Apple. I don't know how much long this promo will last, so act quick if anyone is considering.

 

[Munix88]

FYI, the $350 for CS4 Premium Design is with the purchase of a Mac from Apple. I don't know how much long this promo will last, so act quick if anyone is considering.

Yeah I actually did get that with it because it was such a ridiculous deal. I think it will be nice to have a fully legit version for once. I'm waiting to get the serial number right now.

On a side note, got the system all RAIDed up and decked out with ram. MAN is it FAST. Text Editor loads in FRACTIONS of a second! I clocked my system start-up at about 23-24 seconds after the "booong" sound.

Installing Vista x64 was kind of a pain since I had to remove the OSX drives for it to allow install on my other drive. Works perfect now though!

Was trying to get SATA to eSATA extender in but I found it is pretty much impossible without taking half of the hardware out of the case..