Can a RAID data set, like RAID 1, be implemented in Windows with USB
drives, or do the drives have to be SATA?

MajorLanGod <lonelydad58@gmail.com> wrote in
news:XnsAE1BB6C57FA3Elonelydad58.gmail.co@85.12.62.225:

> Can a RAID data set, like RAID 1, be implemented in Windows with USB
> drives, or do the drives have to be SATA?
>
Furthe question. If one uses an exteranal adaptor handling two or more
drives connected to the system via USB still do RAID

On 1/10/2022 7:00 PM, MajorLanGod wrote:
> MajorLanGod <lonelydad58@gmail.com> wrote in
> news:XnsAE1BB6C57FA3Elonelydad58.gmail.co@85.12.62.225:
>
>> Can a RAID data set, like RAID 1, be implemented in Windows with USB
>> drives, or do the drives have to be SATA?
>>
> Furthe question. If one uses an exteranal adaptor handling two or more
> drives connected to the system via USB still do RAID
>

Storage Spaces, RAID type

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/how-to-set-up-raid-windows-10,36783.html

On a RAID mirror, operations on write involve waiting until
both drives report the write is complete.

On a read, both drives in the mirror look up the information
(stripe block maybe), and when the OS receives the first copy,
it does not use or check the second copy. If you have a fast drive
and a slow drive in RAID 1, the info on the fast drive is used on
reads.

When designing RAID with *matched* flash devices, be aware
that wearout failures correlate, and if one drive "dies"
because of a wear failure, the remaining drive will be
very close to a wear failure as well. To de-correlate, you
might use either drives that have different service hours on
them, or you might use different brands (mix a Corsair USB Stick
with a Patriot USB Stick).

You can now test the Storage Spaces and see if it gets
excited when presented with two drives which are "removable media"
type. Or whatever.

*******

As administrator:

wmic diskdrive # command to generate a table of storage devices.

wmic diskdrive > C:\some.txt # edit output as you desire
notepad C:\some.txt

This is a set of three storage devices, collected yesterday.
Just to give some idea what an SSD on a USB3 converter cable
looks like, in comparison to a Sandisk Extreme USB3 Flash stick.

CapabilityDescriptions Caption
{"Random Access", "Supports Writing", "SMART Notification"} ST4000DM000-2AE166 <=== Internal SATA
{"Random Access", "Supports Writing"} ASMT 2115 SCSI Disk Device <=== Ext SSD on USB3 cable
{"Random Access", "Supports Writing", "Supports Removable Media"} SanDisk Extreme USB Device <=== Conventional 64GB USB3 stick

If one of those device types does not work for a project,
you could try one of the others.

Paul

Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote in news:srijj6$uqt$1@dont-email.me:

> On 1/10/2022 7:00 PM, MajorLanGod wrote:
>> MajorLanGod <lonelydad58@gmail.com> wrote in
>> news:XnsAE1BB6C57FA3Elonelydad58.gmail.co@85.12.62.225:
>>
>>> Can a RAID data set, like RAID 1, be implemented in Windows with USB
>>> drives, or do the drives have to be SATA?
>>>
>> Furthe question. If one uses an exteranal adaptor handling two or
>> more drives connected to the system via USB still do RAID
>>
>
> Storage Spaces, RAID type
>
> https://www.tomshardware.com/news/how-to-set-up-raid-windows-10,36783.h
> tml
>
> On a RAID mirror, operations on write involve waiting until
> both drives report the write is complete.
>
> On a read, both drives in the mirror look up the information
> (stripe block maybe), and when the OS receives the first copy,
> it does not use or check the second copy. If you have a fast drive
> and a slow drive in RAID 1, the info on the fast drive is used on
> reads.
>
> When designing RAID with *matched* flash devices, be aware
> that wearout failures correlate, and if one drive "dies"
> because of a wear failure, the remaining drive will be
> very close to a wear failure as well. To de-correlate, you
> might use either drives that have different service hours on
> them, or you might use different brands (mix a Corsair USB Stick
> with a Patriot USB Stick).
>
> You can now test the Storage Spaces and see if it gets
> excited when presented with two drives which are "removable media"
> type. Or whatever.
>
> *******
>
> As administrator:
>
> wmic diskdrive # command to generate a table of storage
> devices.
>
> wmic diskdrive > C:\some.txt # edit output as you desire
> notepad C:\some.txt
>
> This is a set of three storage devices, collected yesterday.
> Just to give some idea what an SSD on a USB3 converter cable
> looks like, in comparison to a Sandisk Extreme USB3 Flash stick.
>
> CapabilityDescriptions
> Caption {"Random Access", "Supports Writing", "SMART Notification"}
> ST4000DM000-2AE166 <=== Internal SATA {"Random Access",
> "Supports Writing"} ASMT 2115 SCSI Disk
> Device <=== Ext SSD on USB3 cable {"Random Access", "Supports
> Writing", "Supports Removable Media"} SanDisk Extreme USB Device
> <=== Conventional 64GB USB3 stick
>
> If one of those device types does not work for a project,
> you could try one of the others.
>
> Paul
>
>
Thanks. As usual, you have all the technical info needed to help make a
decision. Right now I'm starting to think NAS, with maybe one Seagate and
one Western Digital SATA drive. Just gotta save more pennies.

When I bought this laptop all it had was a 128K NvME SSD drive. I added a
1tb SSD as my primary storage drive. It is now getting full, and this
thought path came from looking at prices for a 2tb SSD. Oh well.

On Mon, 10 Jan 2022 23:58:00 GMT, MajorLanGod <lonelydad58@gmail.com>
wrote:

>Can a RAID data set, like RAID 1, be implemented in Windows with USB
>drives, or do the drives have to be SATA?

RAID 1 (mirroring) is *not* a backup solution. RAID 1 uses two or more
drives, each a duplicate of the others, to provide redundancy, not
backup. It's used in situations (almost always within corporations,
not in homes) where any downtime can't be tolerated, because the way
it works is that if one drive fails the other takes over seamlessly.

See
https://www.howtogeek.com/346907/backups-vs.-redundancy-what%e2%80%99s-the-difference/
Although some people thing of RAID 1 as a backup technique, that is
*not* what it is, since it's subject to simultaneous loss of the
original and the mirror to many of the most common dangers threatening
your data--severe power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, virus
attacks, theft of the computer, etc. Most companies that use RAID 1
also have a strong external backup plan in place.
"Why RAID is (usually) a Terrible Idea"
http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles?&id=29

Ken Blake wrote:
> Although some people thing of RAID 1 as a backup technique, that is
> *not* what it is, since it's subject to simultaneous loss of the
> original and the mirror to many of the most common dangers threatening
> your data--severe power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, virus
> attacks, theft of the computer, etc.

Irrespective of whatever RAID, disaster can always happen.

> Most companies that use RAID 1 also have a strong external backup plan
> in place.

That's always a good idea, whether you have RAID 1 or not.

> "Why RAID is (usually) a Terrible Idea"
> http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles?&id=29

Terrible Ideas in practice van be Extremely Useful and also
Widely Used.

-p

On 1/11/2022 11:58 AM, Piet wrote:

> Terrible Ideas in practice van be Extremely Useful and also
> Widely Used.
>
> -p

Not really.

You people are how we discover just how bad the
RAID implementations are. Thanks for your service :-)

Paul