"Dynamic" disk setting

[mrgreenjeans]

I was browsing some old posts and came across a discussion about RAID0 configuration and someone referred to a 'dynamic' setting available under 'Control Panel/Admin Tools/ Disk management' in XP Pro. Any info as to application and results would be appreciated.

[su root]

You can create what's called a "Software Raid" (requires no special hardware) in windows:
Goto 'Control Panel/Admin Tools/ Disk management'
And change you disks to "Dynamic Disks" (WARNING: Cannot be undone without reformatting them, and they won't be available outside of windows any longer, ie: DOS/Linux, etc)

Do that to two or more disks, and then you can create a RAIDed volume of dynamic disks. It uses your CPU and memory to support the raid, so your system will take a bit of a performance hit.

RAID 0 info: http://www.acnc.com/04_01_00.html

AFAIK: you cannot use a raid0 volume as a boot or system drive

[mrgreenjeans]

So in other words, what ain't broke, don't fix. My set up is using a mobo hardware raid contoller set up in RAID0 and boots and runs just fine. I don't require a 'software RAID'?
Thanks for the input.;)

[su root]

Yeah, don't touch. :)

There are two types of RAID, Hardware (which your using, with a RAID card and identical drives), and Software (which uses any hardware, and instead of using the RAID card's resources, it uses the machine's CPU and memory.)

Software RAID is alot slower, comes at alot of disadvantages (uses system resources, once it's converted, and it cannot be used outside of windows). Hardware raid is alot better.

If you have hardware raid, you don't need software raid.