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What Will Happen To My Data if my IRST Craps Out?

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noname2020x

noname2020x

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Joined
Jul 21, 2011
I am running W7 off of a 1TB HDD, but I'm using Intel's Rapid Storage Technology. Though I know all my cached data (anything that's temp and not on my actual HDD right?) will be gonzo, will everything else be fine? Will W7 boot up. I read somewhere that someone was having trouble booting W7 after their IRST drive failed. That's what suddenly made me concerned.
 
Did Windows7 boot when you when you first implemented SRT? (Yes). Unless RST is actually borked, it should just rebuild the cache like it was new if that was lost.

No data should be lost on the mechanical drive.
 
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First, I'm going to assume you meant SRT (smart response technology aka ssd caching).

I used SRT for a while to accelerate my games hard drive (raptor, 600gb) so it wasn't my boot drive, I had a dedicated 240gb SSD for that. But the raid array SRT creates crashed a few times and I had to recheck my steam cache, it ended up redownloading over 80% of my games because of corrupted files. That's when I disabled SRT.

If it works, great. But when it starts having problems, it can be a nightmare.

Honestly I'd suggest you save some cash and get a decent sized SSD (120+) for your boot drive and move everything that doesn't need to be on it (user folder, non-critical software, etc.) on a regular hard drive to leave enough room for your important stuff (windows, a few main games, software you want to open fast like possibly your office suite, etc.). I know you currently have a 60gb SSD, you can still use that for other important applications too.
 
Interesting... I wonder how it botched the data on the mechanical drive considering it only copies what it uses to the cache drive.

Thanks Dakyris. :)
 
EarthDog said:
Interesting... I wonder how it botched the data on the mechanical drive considering it only copies what it uses to the cache drive.

Thanks Dakyris. :)
Click to expand...

I can't check because I dismantled that computer less than 12 hours ago but if I remember correctly there are multiple modes to SRT and one of them is unsafe because it uses the SSD to store write commands too. Should the raid be disrupted before all the data has been sync'ed (both ways if you use that mode) then you lose data. I don't think the data itself was damaged, I think the index got corrupted while it was writing or something like that. I didn't have much time to spend on that so I didn't attempt a data recovery, at least it was only game folders, the save files were on another disc so I didn't bother to investigate further, simply redownloaded everything (around 200gb) and disabled SRT.
 
Interesting. Well, I think I will keep SRT enabled but keep it on "enhanced acceleration" instead of the mode that also stores write commands. Do you think I will be ok if I do that?

Hmm, also, another question. I have both my HDD and my SSD in Sata3 ports, but I want to move the HDD to a Sata 2 port as I want an extra SSD for Adobe Photoshop and some games. Would that be a huge pain? Is it even possible? I'm assuming I would have to totally re-setup SRT?
 
Its not possible. I believe they have to be on the same controller, the intel sata ports, for that to work.
 
I can't say I blame SRT completely, I did that knowing that it may be unstable. That's why I used it on non-critical data. Also note that my motherboard was most likely defective (that's why I'm currently rebuilding the computer with a new board). I was only speaking from my personal experience. As I said, plenty of people enjoy SRT's benefit and didn't encounter any problems but I'm not that lucky haha.

I think you should be fine, but make backups, just in case.

As for moving from 1 sata port to the other. That's kinda risky. Disable SRT completely, move the drive. Use it without SRT for at least a few hours to be sure everything's fine and then rebuild SRT.

Did you find the mode that stores the write command I mentionned? I don't remember the exact name could be something like maximum acceleration, I think there's even a disclaimer when you try to enable it. It might be useful to write it here, in case someone has a similar question.
 
EarthDog said:
Its not possible. I believe they have to be on the same controller, the intel sata ports, for that to work.
Click to expand...

Some of the SATA2 ports are on the Intel controller, shouldn't those work? I had both of my drives in the native SATA3 ports so I didn't try this particular scenario.
 
Ahh.. good point! If those Intel ports can switch to RAID mode, then I would guess it would work.
 
Dakyris said:
Did you find the mode that stores the write command I mentionned? I don't remember the exact name could be something like maximum acceleration, I think there's even a disclaimer when you try to enable it. It might be useful to write it here, in case someone has a similar question.
Click to expand...

It is in fact maximized mode.
 
Yikes, now I'm confused. That said, even if it did work, I think I may have to wipe both hard drives in order to do it, as when I was initially setting up SRT I had to install windows in raid mode with ONLY the hdd plugged in, then dl the drivers and the srt program.
 
noname2020x said:
It is in fact maximized mode.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I wasn't sure of the exact name.

noname2020x said:
Yikes, now I'm confused. That said, even if it did work, I think I may have to wipe both hard drives in order to do it, as when I was initially setting up SRT I had to install windows in raid mode with ONLY the hdd plugged in, then dl the drivers and the srt program.
Click to expand...

Well you know your options.

I'd make a backup, disable SRT, move the HDD, try the HDD without SRT. If everything is fine up to that point then re-enable SRT.

It works? Great. It doesn't? Then you wipe your HDD and start over.

I think I was able to disable and re-enable SRT on the same drive but I didn't move it from one SATA port to another and I didn't use it as a boot drive so I don't know how relevant this info may be in your case.
 
I have ~350gb of different stuff on my HDD I REALLY do not want to reinstall/redownload. I think I will just play it safe and spend my extra money on a graphics card =).

Hmmm, how would a Sata2 SSD fair against SRT with my HDD?

Also, is TRIM supported for ISRT? If not, would it make a difference? (This Thread)

and finally, If I wiped the cache on the ISRT drive and then only opened the programs I want to run the fastest for the next few days, would it increase the speed of those programs more than if I just used my computer normally?

Thanks a lot btw guys, throwing out questions like crazy lol.
 
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Since its in RAID, I do not believe TRIM works. But drives have some form of Garbage Collection on them so it shouldnt be an issue.
 
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