RAID0: Can I transfer my disks onto another motherboard/RAID controller?

Question

I have 2 1TB drives that I set up in RAID0. Unfortunately, my old system is in pretty crappy shape and I might not be able to boot onto it. This means that the motherboard and old RAID controller are not available.

I can set up a RAID0 on the new system, but it's prompting me to create a new RAID. Will this erase/format the disks, or will it just set up the RAID and leave any existing data on the disks? This is extremely important because I have about 1.5TB of data on these disks that I absolutely cannot lose, and want to transfer onto a new 2TB disk.

Solution

It's been my experience that the only way you can successfully migrate disks to a different hardware raid controller is if the new controller has the identical hardware and firmware revs as the old controller.

In your case, without knowing the raid controller you are using, it's all guesswork whether the new RAID0 config will leave your data intact. Personally, there's no way I would do it without first making a disk image (Ghost, Partition Magic or the like) of both disks. RAID0 might have a better chance than 1 or 5. Even then, you're most likely doomed.

Sorry to not have a happier answer.

Comments

[Mike Fitzpatrick]

1.5TB "that I absolutely cannot lose" on a RAID0 volume - ouch! I have to agree with @Kean's experience. I'd concenterate on getting that old system to boot or otherwise dig out your most recent backup.

[Naidim]

If you are using RAID on an Intel chipset, it will be quite easy to find another one to use. Having important files on a single drive and not backing up is foolish, but having them on RAID0 is totally retarded. RAID0 with two HDDs has very little performance advantage anyway, unless you are dealing with very large files all the time, as it does nothing for access times and random seeks.

[Linker3000]

Have a look at the 'related' list on the right or do a few searches on this site as this issue is well covered.