Hello,
My end goal is this: Set up RAID 10 on 4 HDDs with Windows 7 Pro.
This is similar to this post, but I'm having trouble implementing the answer. Here is the situation:
System: P4303BTLSHCN
Board: S1200BTL
OS: Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit
Drives: Four (4) 2TB hard drives (& one DVD-ROM)
Bottom line: How do I finish with Win 7, RAID 10, and 4 TB storage, accessible through Windows?
Sticking points: Windows partition capabilities, RAID restrictions, virtual drive creation/modification . . .
More background:
The aforementioned post says to make a smaller virtual drive and install Windows on that. I'm using two utilities in trying to create such a partition, and a third trying to set up RAID:
- Intel Embedded RAID II Configuration Utility (Ctrl+E)
- GParted Live
- Intel Server Board S1200BT Family Server Deployment Toolkit 4.0 (bootable CD G20500-002)
Toolkit CD only offers low-level RAID, so I've mostly been ignoring that. If I create the partitions in GParted, I don't see any recognition of them in the Configuration Utility. If I create a virtual drive (tried 25 and 50 GB) in the Configuration Utility, it only allows RAID 0 for the small one, and then restricts the RAID level for the larger drives. In addition to just making one small partition and having the rest go more or less automatically, I've tried making 8 partitions/VDs (one small & one large on each drive) so as to keep all the same size for RAID, but that doesn't seem to matter. If I go straight to configuring RAID 10 without any prior divisions, it doesn't allow me to alter the size of the resulting drive.
Earlier in this process I set up RAID 10, installed Windows, and found only 2 TB available (on the C drive, with no other drives visible). During startup it listed the drives and recognized RAID 10 implemented. I checked BIOS and Config Utility settings. The other post appeared to be essentially the same situation, which is why I'm trying to make a boot partition. I've also tried advanced options on the Windows install, but apparently it can't handle more than 2 TB. When I did have Windows installed (with all updates), I tried everything I could manage on the Toolkit CD, Intel System Management Software (G10627-002) CD, and driver program available from downloadcenter.intel.com.
Fortunately all of the drives are new so I can format them all I want. For various reasons I'm trying to keep to Windows as the final OS, but I'm happy to use Linux in the process--but I can't claim to be an expert at it. My tech knowledge is well above average, but everything I know is only what I've (taught myself to be able to get) done. If you tell me to do some standard operation, if I don't know it I can ask Google. I just need a direction to look.
Thanks very much.