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Target setup: sort of RAID 1 with cloned second disc

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Hi,

I have a presales question.

I always thought that a RAID1 configuration was actually creating a 100% mirror (clone) but I discovered it does only mirror data but not the OS. Thus when one drive fails you still can not simply swap the drives and go on with your work.

I am looking for a solution which compromises 2 internal drives:
1. First drive with OS, applications and data (the usual C:), and on my PC there is also a Q: for "Lenovo recovery", I assume that is a partition reserved on C: but should be included in the clone.
2. Second drive, this must be a 100% clone of the first drive, thus in case the first drive fails I must be able to swap drives (restart + bios adjustment?) and proceed with work.

So, I am thinking of using True Image 2015 as follow:
1. Install a second drive (my current system only has 1 internal drive).
2. Cloning the first drive to the second drive with the True Image clone utility.
3. Use the Windows 7 RAID1 utility to keep the drive real time up-to-date.

But I am not sure if this configuration is working as I think it should, can anyone confirm or advice me how to reach my target?

Thanks in advance,

Arend

(BTW, the G: drive in the attachment is an external HDD)

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Arend van Rossum wrote:

I have a presales question.

I always thought that a RAID1 configuration was actually creating a 100% mirror (clone) but I discovered it does only mirror data but not the OS. Thus when one drive fails you still can not simply swap the drives and go on with your work.

This is not correct. A RAID1 configuration is neither a clone or a mirror. Roughly speaking the data is duplicated on 2 disks, plus some overhead created by the configuration, and the OS sees only one volume across 2 disks. A mirror would be a separate volume from the OS perspective. A clone would be a separate physical disk from the machine perspective. Unlike a clone or a backup, a RAID 1 offers no protection against data loss. Only against physical disk problems. A mirror offers no protection against data loss if it is real time mirroring or synching, and doesn't offer versioning if it is done asynchronously.

I am looking for a solution which compromises 2 internal drives:
1. First drive with OS, applications and data (the usual C:), and on my PC there is also a Q: for "Lenovo recovery", I assume that is a partition reserved on C: but should be included in the clone.
2. Second drive, this must be a 100% clone of the first drive, thus in case the first drive fails I must be able to swap drives (restart + bios adjustment?) and proceed with work.

So, I am thinking of using True Image 2015 as follow:
1. Install a second drive (my current system only has 1 internal drive).
2. Cloning the first drive to the second drive with the True Image clone utility.
3. Use the Windows 7 RAID1 utility to keep the drive real time up-to-date.

This will not work.

You have to choose between clone and image.

With a clone, you would clone your system disk to a SATA drive connected to your computer through a USB-SATA connector, using the Acronis recovery CD to boot your computer on. After the clone is done, you would disconnect the produced clone, store it somewhere safe, then reboot the computer on its normal disk. If your main disk fails, you would have to swap physically the disks. The benefit here is to be able to

With an image, you would store images (disk and partitions backup in Acronis lingo) on an USB disk. If your system disk fails, you would restore the image on the disk or a new disk, using the recovery CD. Unlike a clone, an image requires a restore operation before getting the computer back on its feet, but a backup, unlike a clone, allows you to store several versions easily.

Arend van Rossum wrote:

I have a presales question.

I always thought that a RAID1 configuration was actually creating a 100% mirror (clone) but I discovered it does only mirror data but not the OS. Thus when one drive fails you still can not simply swap the drives and go on with your work.

This is not correct. A RAID1 configuration is neither a clone or a mirror. Roughly speaking the data is duplicated on 2 disks, plus some overhead created by the configuration, and the OS sees only one volume across 2 disks. A mirror would be a separate volume from the OS perspective. A clone would be a separate physical disk from the machine perspective. Unlike a clone or a backup, a RAID 1 offers no protection against data loss. Only against physical disk problems. A mirror offers no protection against data loss if it is real time mirroring or synching, and doesn't offer versioning if it is done asynchronously.

I am looking for a solution which compromises 2 internal drives:
1. First drive with OS, applications and data (the usual C:), and on my PC there is also a Q: for "Lenovo recovery", I assume that is a partition reserved on C: but should be included in the clone.
2. Second drive, this must be a 100% clone of the first drive, thus in case the first drive fails I must be able to swap drives (restart + bios adjustment?) and proceed with work.

So, I am thinking of using True Image 2015 as follow:
1. Install a second drive (my current system only has 1 internal drive).
2. Cloning the first drive to the second drive with the True Image clone utility.
3. Use the Windows 7 RAID1 utility to keep the drive real time up-to-date.

This will not work.

You have to choose between clone and image.

With a clone, you would clone your system disk to a SATA drive connected to your computer through a USB-SATA connector, using the Acronis recovery CD to boot your computer on. After the clone is done, you would disconnect the produced clone, store it somewhere safe, then reboot the computer on its normal disk. If your main disk fails, you would have to swap physically the disks. The benefit here is to be able to

With an image, you would store images (disk and partitions backup in Acronis lingo) on an USB disk. If your system disk fails, you would restore the image on the disk or a new disk, using the recovery CD. Unlike a clone, an image requires a restore operation before getting the computer back on its feet, but a backup, unlike a clone, allows you to store several versions easily.

Pat L is absolutely right about what RAID 1 does. Whenever you write to one disk, the same write operation happens to the other disk. If the controller is smart enough, it will interleave read operations to speed things up; but I don't know if the typical PC controller will.

Here's a tip for you: check the health of your logical volume regularly. It is entirely possible for one of your physical disks to fail, and for the system to keep on running! That leaves you vulnerable.

Also, be careful when moving drives around. It shouldn't be possible, but you can (I have) wound up with the older image taking over.