Pro/Forums - View Single Post - barton vs. not-barton?

Cova · 03-03-2003, 12:41 PM

I can't help ya much on the CPU decision - I'm currently stuck myself trying to decide between a Barton and a TBred-B for an upgrade.

On the RAID issue though, I would say that your controller will NOT be able to change RAID-levels/sizes on the fly, so moving from a single disk to a RAID array, or changing the config of the RAID array in the future (adding disks, removing disks, etc.) will require a complete reformat of the entire array. However, moving the array between computers (all disks + controller together, keeping everything plugged in in the same way) should not require any formatting, though I'd still back up the data first. As far as I know there isn't an official term for this ability on a controller - I've seen it called FlexRaid, dyamic-RAID, and a few other odd things - typically only available on expensive server SCSI RAID controllers.

Also note: this is NOT the same as being able to "rebuild" an array - that is basic RAID functionality that every controller can do. What the hell is the point of mirroring disks if you can't remove a dead drive and then mirror onto a new good drive.

03-03-2003, 12:41 PM	#8
Cova Cooling Savant Join Date: May 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 247	I can't help ya much on the CPU decision - I'm currently stuck myself trying to decide between a Barton and a TBred-B for an upgrade. On the RAID issue though, I would say that your controller will NOT be able to change RAID-levels/sizes on the fly, so moving from a single disk to a RAID array, or changing the config of the RAID array in the future (adding disks, removing disks, etc.) will require a complete reformat of the entire array. However, moving the array between computers (all disks + controller together, keeping everything plugged in in the same way) should not require any formatting, though I'd still back up the data first. As far as I know there isn't an official term for this ability on a controller - I've seen it called FlexRaid, dyamic-RAID, and a few other odd things - typically only available on expensive server SCSI RAID controllers. Also note: this is NOT the same as being able to "rebuild" an array - that is basic RAID functionality that every controller can do. What the hell is the point of mirroring disks if you can't remove a dead drive and then mirror onto a new good drive.