Asus P4T533 - Manual (Page 128)

108 Chapter 5: Software reference
8. Confirm the command to copy data from the intact source hard disk onto
a new replacement hard disk. A progress gauge displays the copy progress
for the duration of the task.
9. After the rebuild is complete, the user is prompted to reboot the system.
Controller Configuration (6): Default for Controller Configuration is: [enabled].
5.10.6 Alternative Set Ups and Other Details
Hot Spares
A hot spare hard disk may be installed to support a RAID 1 array. This spare
hard disk must share one of the Ultra-DMA/100 cables attached to either of
the hard disks active in a RAID 1 array. In the event of a failure of either
active hard disk in the array, the “Lite” BIOS detects the hot spare and
automatically rebuilds the mirrored data from the functional hard disk. The
FastBuild Utility will report a warning message after such a hard disk failure;
it may indicate that the good hard disk and the hot spare are connected to
the same cable, so then it will be necessary to transfer the hot spare to the
other cable and reboot again.
Use Both ATA-100 Connectors
Optimal performance for RAID 0 and 1 arrays require that each hard disk be
connected to separate IDE channels; the first hard disk should be connected
to the Primary ATA-100 connector and the second hard disk, to the Secondary
ATA-100 connector.
Adding Extra Hard Disks
The P4T533 is supplied with two additional Primary IDE and Secondary IDE
connectors. Only two hard disks connected to the Primary and Secondary
ATA-133 IDE connectors can function in a RAID 0 or RAID 1 array. Extra
hard disks may be connected to the system using the onboard IDE connectors,
but such disks cannot be configured in a RAID array. In principle, up to eight
hard disks or other IDE devices may connect to the P4T533. Whether an
array is set up or not, all hard disks connected to the P4T533 will function at
the ATA-133 protocol.
Use ATA-133/100, High-RPM Hard Disks with Identical Storage Capacity
The fastest available hard disks should be used in the RAID 0 array to
maximize performance. Slower hard disks may be used; however, the RAID
0 array can only double the speed of particular hard disks. Since you can
achieve better performance with a single ATA-133 hard disk than with two
ATA-33 disks in a RAID 0 array, it is more effective to install two ATA-133 or
ATA-100 high-RPM hard disks for an array. Hard disks used for both RAID 0
and 1 arrays should always have the same storage capacity because the
RAID protocol automatically formats both disks to use only up to the maximum
write space available on the smaller of two different hard disks.