My PC runs Windows 10 Home 20H2 off a RAID-1 HD (configuration: BIOS-> SATA->RAID). I would like to add a new, separate SSD drive to this system. Can this be done without interfering with the existing RAID-1?
That would depend upon whether your motherboard allows specific SATA ports to be excluded from the RAID array.
I have a Z68 MB with a i7 2600k
For many years I had a single and small SSD and two HDD on a Raid 0 array.
In BIOS the SATA ports must be as they are now (RAID, not AHCI)
Just insert the new SSD into a SATA port make sure it is recognized in BIOS and initialize and format it under windows.
The experience I mentioned was a Dell computer with a BIOS that had 2 choices, one setting choice was Legacy and the other setting choice was AHCI/RAID. With 2 drives in the case Windows automatically used the RAID part and I didn't realize it until I removed the second/D: drive and it wouldn't boot, had to start over.
My guess is that with Raid 1 (mirroring) there would be no issue, as Raid 1 uses just a pair of drives.
I haven't used motherboard RAID in years. I once had a 4 drive Raid 10 array. I got tired of it re-verifying the array every time Windows crashed. The PC was still usable, but with HD performance that was degraded for hours.
Thank you all. The reason for choosing the RAID-1 configuration was reliability. It is extremely stable, if fact, it's my only rig with no HD failure in over 11 years. I think I'll skip the SSD for now.
The great advantage of a SSD is speed. It is almost 6 times faster than a HDD. Boots in 25 sec and open programs at a blink of an eye.
You can install a small SSD (128G - US$25) for windows an programs and use the HDDs for data only. It's a way to have the speed of a SSD and the space of a HDD at low cost.
That is may configuration on the desktop and laptop.
Last edited by Megahertz; 25 Apr 2021 at 12:06.
Raid configurations alongside standalone disks is achievable in most cases whether the hardware is modern or not. On motherboard raid must be configured as such using a software raid utility in most cases.
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