JBOD = non-raid? need help with non-raid setup

[iamWolverine]

Ok here's my dilemma ... I currently have 3 hard drives working fine on my system, 1 IDE + 2x SATA drives and my motherboard (Abit IC7-G) supports up to 2 more SATA drives, but the remaining 2 SATA ports are run through a separate RAID controller (which means I need to setup raid in order to make use of them right?)

Thing is none of my hard drives are the same sizes, so I'm not actually interested in using "raid" per se ... so if I am going to add a 3rd SATA drive, how can I configure my system in a non-raid array?

It should be setup as Just a Bunch of Disks right? that way they are all independent volumes?

Do I have to go into BIOS enable raid, install raid drivers and see if there is a JBOD option ?? Would I be at risk of losing any data while setting this up? If I set them up as independent volumes, then it shouldn't need to wipe any of the disks to set it up, right?

Please help!!! I haven't set up any kind of raid (or non-raid) array before ... let me know if you need any screen captures of my bios, etc.

oh yeah, currently my OS (win7) is on my IDE drive, but the other SATA drives are also full of data.

 

[FishAk]

First, JBOD is a term for an actual array of joined disks. It sounds like you have, and what you want to keep, is a bunch of disks connected to your computer, but that are not explicitly connected to each other.

If you put the disks in RAID mode, but don't actually make an array with them, it will be the same as having them in ACHI mode. I think this is what you are looking for.

As long as you don't tell the controller to create an array with the disks, you won't loose the data from them. This assumes they are not currently in an actual array.

 

[iamWolverine]

well, there is no current array ...

should I just follow these instructions to setup ACHI for win 7:
http://www.ithinkdiff.com/how-to-enable-ahci-in-windows-7-rc-after-installation/

And what if I cannot find an "ACHI" option in bios, is there still a way to set this up? (would that option be listed under raid or another part of bios ... I should go take a look around)

 

[coffeejunkee]

but the remaining 2 SATA ports are run through a separate RAID controller (which means I need to setup raid in order to make use of them right?)

Are you sure about this? Isn't it just an extra sata controller that supports raid as well?

 

[iamWolverine]

Are you sure about this? Isn't it just an extra sata controller that supports raid as well?

so on my motherboard the 4 SATA slots are split up this way:

Channels 1 and 2 run off the Intel ICH5R Southbridge.

Channels 3 and 4 run off the Silicon Image PCI (Sil3112ACT144 chip).

I thought, in order to use channels 3 and 4 I have to enable RAID in the bios ... is that all I have to do? enable raid, but not setup any array and add the ACHI? or enable raid not setup any array and don't worry about ACHI?

 

[FishAk]

RAID = ACHI essentially. Just don't join the disks into an array.

 

[RebateMonger]

Would I be at risk of losing any data while setting this up? If I set them up as independent volumes, then it shouldn't need to wipe any of the disks to set it up, right?

Since it sounds like your data is important to you, you might consider keeping backups. Hard drives can and do fail, often without warning. And people have definitely lost data while moving disks around and creating arrays. It's an accident waiting to happen.

 

[iamWolverine]

Since it sounds like your data is important to you, you might consider keeping backups. Hard drives can and do fail, often without warning. And people have definitely lost data while moving disks around and creating arrays. It's an accident waiting to happen.

I keep backups, and am familiar with how annoying it is to lose data ... just not interested in a raid array at this time / for this setup

and on this system, I am having some trouble getting the configuration right so that all the drives are recognized when I add a SATA drive to channel 3

to get it to work, I should enable RAID but not setup any array? do I still have to install all the raid drivers and run raid setup, but look for option to not do anything ??

 

[RebateMonger]

You can likely run single disks off of the onboard Silicon Image controller.

Another option if you are short of disk controller ports is to buy a $10-$25 SATA PCI/PCI-E disk controller set up for non-RAID. That's what I use to control internal and external SATA/eSATA backup disks and to hook up 1 TB SATA disks to old computers to create low-cost Windows home Servers.