I want to have my 200gb, 140gb, and 40gb hard drives all running together, is that possible?
2006-09-18 18:52:07 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Desktops
If you want all to be separate (not RAID) on an ATA system:
1. Put the OS disk on the Primary ATA channel.
2. Put the DVD/CD drive on the Secondary ATA channel.
3. Make the other two hard drives SLAVES (put the jumper on the SL or SLAVE prongs).
4. Attach the most used other hard drive on the OS hard drive as a slave (you'll need a double ATA header cable).
5. Attach the least used hard drive to the DVD/CD drive as a slave (again you'll need a double ATA header cable).
6. Reboot to BIOS, ensure that all drives can be seen. If auto detect isn't switched on in BIOS make it so. Save the BIOS. Reboot and you'll have 3 drives in use.
SATA on motherboards are mostly for RAID setups. RAID is not recommended on non same sized disks. JBOD can be used, but the speed is reduced to the slowest drive of the three.
Best RAID performance is to get a hardware RAID card w/memory (128MB or higher). Software RAID common in current motherboards uses CPU cycles to keep it running, reducing system performance. A hardware RAID has it's own processor and memory (why it costs $$$).
FYI: Best RAID format is RAID 5/0 -- NOT RAID 5 -- and that takes a hardware RAID card (and at least 3 disks).
2006-09-18 21:38:09 · answer #1 · answered by SandyKIT 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have 3 drives in my computer, and an external hard drive for backups. If you want to get a terabyte drive then you will have to do the that and more as well as install a RAID card to manage the drives.
Personally I have my C: drive set for the OS (Windows 2000) and all my programs. Since I don't install many programs or move a lot of information around on the C: drive it stays stable.
The other two drives contain only Data and I only need to back them up with the external Hard Drive. When I need to defragment the drives the C: only needs to be defraged once in a great while, which means I dont have to worry about the computer slowing down because of fragmented files.
I don't know how many programs you have, but I would suggest that you use the large drive for storage of data, and run the OS and your programs off the 140gb drive.
2006-09-19 01:59:38 · answer #2 · answered by Dan S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes... it's very possible... but it depends on the capabilities of your computer. If your computer doesn't have room for 3 hard drives, then no. Unless you buy a new case... and maybe a new motherboard... this would be so much easier to answer if you only provided details - like the brand and model of your computer.
2006-09-19 01:56:45 · answer #3 · answered by lwcomputing 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most motherboards have at least two IDE controllers (or more SATA controllers for a newer MB). Each IDE controller can handle two drives. So if you have two IDE then you can have 3 hard drives and still have one CD-ROM/DVD drive.
If you are running SATA drives you can easily have 3.
2006-09-19 01:55:03 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You install up to 4 without additional hardware.
If you want to you could install a RAID array.
2006-09-19 02:00:52 · answer #5 · answered by Lil Cena 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋