How to install Win7 to an SSD Raid array?

[donnyb]

I would like to get 2 SSD’s and put them into a raid array using Windows 7-64bit, but wanted to make sure I understand how to do that. The 2 SSD’s will be the only drives in the system. My computer has an X58 motherboard with an ICH10R. Here is what I think is the correct procedure:
Boot into the bios.
Set the storage config to RAID (the other choices are IDE and AHCI)
Reboot and hit Cntrl-I to get into raid menu during boot.
Set up the raid array in the setup screen.
Reboot to the Win7 install CD and install Windows
Is this correct? Are there any other steps I need or tips I should be aware of?

 

[theog]

I personally would stay away from RAID, as it seems to more problems than it is worth.

 

[whs]

What do you hope to gain from the Raid setup. Your OS will not run any faster because your access time is the same as for a single SSD. You may gain a bit if you write or read large data blocks with certain programs. But most OS R/Ws are in the 4K and 8K area.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

I personally would stay away from RAID, as it seems to more problems than it is worth.

. +1

 

[donnyb]

I have never used a raid array before and was going to run some benchmarks with one SSD (non raid), then repeat using the 2 SSD raid array. If there is no performance advantage, I will stick with just one drive (non raid). The reason for the original post was to make sure I was not doing something in the setup that would interfere with my comparison.

 

[donnyb]

I tried this on two old HDD's. Apparently I need a raid driver. It asks for a driver during Windows install. What driver is needed here?

 

[Outlander]

At one time there was no TRIM with SSD Raid . My read on it was that it worked great at first but performance declined significantly over time. You might want to see if this issue has been resolved. When I did my mechanical RAID setup I had to load the RAID driver from an external floppy drive before the setup would go forward. Strangely I could not get it to recognize USB? The ICH10R driver should be available from the mobo manufacturer. SSD Raid is something I would like to try but not without some sort of garbage collection and I would not try it on my first RAID venture. But what the hey, making expensive mistakes is a great way to learn!

 

[donnyb]

I give up - I could not make it work. I tried installing Win7 without using the raid driver (during install) and I tried installing Win7 with adding the driver. I also tried each of those (driver and no driver) and then hitting Control-I during POST and then without hitting Control-I. So far, there are 4 ways to proceed - all failed when I tried to boot into the new Win7 install. When the four balloons come together, it stops and then BSOD, then shuts down. This means a driver is not installed. Next I installed Win7 without adding the drivers and then when I booted into windows, I added RST 10.1.0.1008, but I could not create a raid array using the RST software. Out of all the combinations, you would have thought one would work, but all to no avail. Maybe there is one more combination I did not try.

 

[Outlander]

So, when you hit the control I how did that part of the setup go? If I remember there were several choices that had to be made and what not...Stripe size was one for sure. Did all of that go well?

 

[donnyb]

That part went very well. I'm just not sure I did all the other steps in the correct sequence.

 

[Outlander]

I see you have the P6t as do I so I am assuming you got the RAID driver from Asus? If I recall there were drivers for the x64 and x86. Any possibility of a mixup there?

 

[donnyb]

Always a chance of a mixup. I did, however, double check this.

 

[Outlander]

Just happened to look in the floppy drive box and there was the floppy that I used when Windows asks you to press F6 or whatever if you want to install drivers before the setup continues. The disk has the following files:
iaahci.cat
iaAHCI.inf
iastor.cat
iaStor.inf
IaStor.sys
license.txt
TXTSETUP.OEM
Did you get something like those when you downloaded the drivers?

 

[donnyb]

Yes, in fact, the iastor.inf file is the driver for the raid systems and iaAHCI.inf is the driver file for the non-raid systems. During the Win7 install, it gets to the point where you can format the HD, and you can also add drivers. At this point I direct it to my USB stick with all the iastor.inf files (plus all the ones you list). It seems to be updating the install and then the install program continues from there.

That is the procedure I used for all of the attempts I made (except for the ones where I tried to install the RST drivers after the Win7 install). In fact, the RST drivers would not install in IDE mode, only AHCI mode.

 

[Outlander]

My drivers are the ones that shipped with the mboard. I never updated them because there were apparently some issues that honestly are beyond me. New RST Drivers 32 bit only?...: Intel Communities There are some concerns expressed here. The drivers I am using are 2009 vintage and I never touched them. If you have the newer ones could there be a problem? I'm still running the obsolete Intel Matrix Storage Manager that came with the mboard. RAID actually makes me a little nervous I guess but it is quick and runs perfectly. I'm probably dreaming but I thought when I was installing there was a driver install successful message before the format? Also I could not get an install with the USB. Don't understand that to this day?

 

[Domie]

I needed TXTSETUP.OEM recently for an XP install, found it here

Add mass storage drivers to a Windows XP configuration set

And download http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/opk/1.0/wxp/en-us/scsicfgset.exe then drop it in.

7 version ??

 

[DeaconFrost]

I haven't tried myself, but I have read in several places that RAIDing SSDs accomplishes very little. I can believe it, because it accomplished very little with HDDs (RAID0, I mean).

If it was up to me, I'd get one larger SSD, as opposed to two smaller SSDs.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

If it was up to me, I'd get one larger SSD, as opposed to two smaller SSDs.

+1 It'd probably be a lot less expensive too.

 

[Mergatroid]

You guys have got to be kidding right? I have an SSD boot drive, and by buddy right beside me has a hard drive RAID0. He gets the same performance from his mechanical RAID as I get from my SSD (SATAII). I have just spent a few hours reading on SSD RAID arrays, and people are getting excellent results from them. All I can say for people who have had so much trouble with RAID0 is that your experience is not typical. Over the last five or more years I have seen various RAID systems out perform regular systems. I doubt so much effort would be put into RAID by manufacturers if no one was having any success with it. I have just purchased a second SSD (a 60G Corsair SATAII) that I am investigating RAID0ing with my current Patriot Inferno 60Gb SATAII. I'll let you know how it goes. My biggest problem at the moment is trying to find a way to back up my system and restore it to the RAID. An image is out of the question, but some type of file/software backup I can restore after reinstalling Windows would be perfect.

 

[DeaconFrost]

You guys have got to be kidding right? I have an SSD boot drive, and by buddy right beside me has a hard drive RAID0. He gets the same performance from his mechanical RAID as I get from my SSD (SATAII).

We're the ones who have got to be kidding? If your SSD isn't spanking the spinner drive, you have some issues to figure out, such as the wrong drivers being loaded, or the alignment being off. If you've done any reading on SSDs, you should already know that something isn't right with your system.

As for SSD RAID, I'll stand by my comments and those of the others here. I'm also going to question how much reading you did, considering you bought mismatched drives. That's the very basic principle of any type of RAID...that you need identical drives.

If you want my honest suggestion...solve the problem at hand with one single SSD. Once you get that fixed, you can return the second one and get a larger storage drive.