Hello,
I want to set RAID on my 1 hdd with XP on it. XP comes with RAID-5, but it needs more then 3 hdds to work.? I want to back up everything that's on my drive.
So I have 3 questions. What kind of RAID do I need to use with XP and 1 hdd? Do I have to get a second hdd for it? Is mirroring enough or do I need striping as well?

I'm assuming you're talking about IDE RAID, not SCSI RAID.

For RAID0 or RAID1 you will need at least two physical hard drives and a RAID controller.

RAID0 will stripe data across multiple drives to improve performance, RAID1 will mirror data onto the second drive for data security. Data in a RAID0 array will be lost if either of your drives fails.

The question is: what is your goal with RAID?

Hi UTLLAMA
My goal is to make a backup system that will be consistent - backup on the fly, without user's intervention. I'm doing this for a friend who knows nothing about computers and has massive amount of valuable data to her. It is also a low budget project, RAID appears to be the one to use.
So, I was thinking to have IDE because I don't know how reliable SCSI is, how easy for someone to mess with it.
Will I have two plug-in cards - one for RAID0 and one for RAID1, or is it still one card?
Thank you for helping me with this one.

If you're looking for data security, use RAID1. (Mirroring) Striping may improve performance, but your data is more at risk with RAID0 because a single disk failure can totally destroy all of your data.

You'll need to install a RAID controller, then install your existing hard drive on one RAID channel, the new hard drive on the other RAID channel. Once installed, enter the RAID setup utility and setup your second drive to mirror the first.

SCSI RAID is a lot more reliable, but generally, a lot more expensive, which is why it's usually used by businesses, etc.

When you purchase the RAID controller, more in depth instructions should be included. Keep in mind that you should have a pretty powerful CPU, as IDE RAID utilizes the computers CPU for instructions processing.

Hi UTLLAMA,
I looked for RAID, and it looks like the controller comes with striping and mirroring at once. I'm not sure if it means that it has RAID0 and RAID1. My Norton Hardware book says that controllers come with many levels that are defined with installation. So, I'm making up my mind to work only with mirroring to insure safety of data. Is it right?
I'm buying a used hdd and a new controller -so that I get the instructions with it. I called bunch of places to find a 10 GK drive (new), nobody sells new drives that are less 40 GB. It is amazing how fast standards change.
Thank you for your help - I got a better understanding of RAID.