System upgrade without backing-up my Raid-0 HDD's ?

MohammedSF

I have 2x160GB (320GB) HDD's & 2x500GB (1TB) in RAID-0 using a built-in controller, filled to the tip with OS & stuff, can i upgrade my Motherboard & Processor without backing-up 1320GB's ? should it work on another controller ?
if not, is there a software that rebuilds the data on RAID-0 disks as single disks and allow me to disable RAID without destroying the data ?

AVOlio

I cant help you get solutions for your questions. All i can do is suggest you VERY seriously to opt with the second method you mentioned, and copy all the data from the Raid 0 disks on a single disk and forget about the Raid... !
I just lost ALL of my data, movies, pictures, games, patches everything cause of corrupted Raid. Pfff...

Khaled

Because of the way RAID 0 actually works, no you cant, you have to back everything up then disable the array.

Heck, even if you want to add another drive you have to recreate the array ..

Joe

AVOlio wroteI just lost ALL of my data, movies, pictures, games, patches everything cause of corrupted Raid. Pfff...

If you think that a RAID exempts you from the backup burden, you're wrong. I'm honestly sorry for your loss (having gone through that hell before, far many more times than I should), but discouraging the use of RAID because you didn't back up your data is misleading.

That being said, I strongly discourage the use of any kind of RAID for home use. RAID in its simplest definition consists of sacrificing disk space for higher uptimes. Having a 99.99% uptime isn't important for most (all?) home uses I can think of. RAID does not in any case dispense you from proper backups. All you're left with is a huge part of disk space wasted and that can amount to extremely costly systems.

@MohammedSF: Based on what I've written (and common sense), there's absolutely no reason for you not to back up your data. Even if it's costly and it takes a long time, back your data up before you regret it.

And depending on your use:

Either you're talking about your home system, and as mentioned I suggest you get rid of the RAID
Or you're talking about enterprise systems, in which case you need the RAID, but you have even more reasons to do (incremental) backups.

Further reading
Take a look at this random thread off Google.

MohammedSF

I don't trust hard drives (Raid or not) in any way and i always keep my data backed-up in DVD's and sometimes a doubled backup DVD's, but i was lazy for months to do it and the only reason is the 1320GB's thing !

Let's say I only need 200 blank 4.7GB DVD's, each disc take 15m to burn @16x, that means 50 hours of continues burning and a trashed writer..

Will, I think i should start backing-up from this moment.. thank you guys

d3ad

MohammedSF wroteI don't trust hard drives (Raid or not) in any way and i always keep my data backed-up in DVD's and sometimes a doubled backup DVD's, but i was lazy for months to do it and the only reason is the 1320GB's thing !

Let's say I only need 200 blank 4.7GB DVD's, each disc take 15m to burn @16x, that means 50 hours of continues burning and a trashed writer..

Will, I think i should start backing-up from this moment.. thank you guys

As you value your data so much the best would be to get a 2TB drive for now and backup everything on it, once you upgrade you can revert the data back.

As for trusting hard drives you can also get 2 x 2TB and use them in mirror, unless you are really reallllllly unlucky both will never die at once :)

AvoK95

DVDs and optical disks are even more risky to use it as backup medias. They are more vulnerable to get destroyed and have the risk where data doesn't get burned to it nicely. I have lost lots of data from compact disks.

As for your RAID, no I don't think there is a way to do such a thing.. But maybe you can backup the RAID image, and just reconfigure your RAID when you use your new motherboard, then reapply the image. Using third party software ofc.

Like d3ad suggested. You should also have a second drive for constant backup, or you can just get an SSD and huge primary drive(s). There will be nor RAID corruption risk or anything. Your data will always be there for a long period of time.

If you are willing to invest. You can get lots of big hard drives and turn your current PC into a small file server to have your data always backed up.