RAID 0 visible from Wondows????

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Level 1

20 points

RAID 0 visible from Wondows????

OK folks here is a tough one. (NED any ideas???)
I got my MacPro this weekend. Went to Fry's and bought (3) 750 barracudas. I stripped them as RAID 0 for media (FCP). I then installed Bootcamp and Windows on my system drive which is NOT part of the Raid.

Opened windoze, installed macdrive and was able to see my OS X system drive but I simply can not see the RAID. Having been a MAC user all my life, I am lost here. Is there any way to have an internal RAID array and make it "visible" for both OS's??
Thanks guys

MacPro Dual 3, Mac OS X (10.4.7), titanium, G3, and macbook pro :)

Posted on Aug 20, 2006 7:31 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 20, 2006 7:38 PM in response to alvarofp

While I don't specifically know what the problem is or whether there are issues with RAID volumes under Windows although I suspect the problem is actually MacDrive. You may want to contact their tech support with your problem.

The reason I say this is that MacDrive is in fact responsible for making your Mac volumes available to Windows. It's probably this that has the problems with RAID volumes.

By the way, are you sure you want to give Windows access to your Mac volumes? You do open yourself to additional issues by doing this.

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Answer 2

alvarofp Author

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20 points

Aug 20, 2006 7:42 PM in response to infinite vortex

Thanks Ned. I am not sure if the problem is due to the fact that my RAID was created on OS X and it is after all a HFS+ Raid. Thanks for your help. Let's see what the folks out there say.

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Answer 3

Aug 21, 2006 4:33 AM in response to alvarofp

I would suspect it is MacDrive as well. I tested it on my XP machine and it would read and write to a USB external fine, but could not connect consistently to it across the network if the USB drive was hooked directly to the Mac (although it could read some files and not others).

Emailed their tech support and was told that it didn't support access via networks something about network translation if I remember correctly. So I suspect it is something dealing with the Raid interface that is probably causing your problem.

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Answer 4

Aug 21, 2006 7:42 AM in response to alvarofp

Alvarofp,

That RAID drive is never going to be visible in Windows. Here's why...

Unless you installed a RAID card in your computer, you're using software RAID. You created it in OS X, using OS X's software RAID utilities, and only OS X knows how to read it.

If you were using hardware RAID (via an add-in card), then the card handles the RAID and displays a disk to the operating system, so in that case both Windows and OS X could see it (assuming you can get drivers for that card in both operating systems).

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Answer 5

The hatter

Level 9

61,051 points

Aug 21, 2006 7:52 AM in response to alvarofp

you may want to check out Barefeats tests of various RAIDs, like 750GB (4) 'cudas that did not run well at all.

Seeing how a Tiger RAID won't show under Panther, not surprised. SANs or XRAID is probably not what you have in mind either. 🙂

I wonder if SoftRAID 4 will have some cross-platform / BootCamp support?

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Answer 6

alvarofp Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 21, 2006 3:56 PM in response to Jeff Hubbach

This is exactly what I feared and it seems to be the word on the street as well. It will be interesting to look for a card that works opn both platforms. In the meantime, while the whole Universal binary software rift settles, I am running windoze on my MacPro and it simply screams (After Effects, cumbostion, Photoshop, Illustrator and even Encore while my Universal crossgrade DVD's get here)

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Answer 7

alvarofp Author

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20 points

Aug 21, 2006 3:59 PM in response to The hatter

I know about those tests, but I don't think they are representative of he quality of Drives tha Seagate makes. I have been using them for many many years and i have never had a problem with them. besides, I am doing SD mostly so it does not really matter.
thanks fr the post though!

We'll keep eyes open for softraid 4

you may want to check out Barefeats tests of various
RAIDs, like 750GB (4) 'cudas that did not run well at
all.

Seeing how a Tiger RAID won't show under Panther, not
surprised. SANs or XRAID is probably not what you
have in mind either. 🙂

I wonder if SoftRAID 4 will have some cross-platform
/ BootCamp support?

Reply

Answer 8

The hatter

Level 9

61,051 points

Aug 22, 2006 1:59 AM in response to alvarofp

I have always felt Seagate "over-states" their performance (non-SCSI) and StorageReview found that seeks were slower than anyone else.

The 750 is a new technology, and it is possible that the SATA II chipset Apple/Intel chose wasn't ready to test and qualify those drives.

Drives change. SATA is or has been messy the last two years with some using SSC, Apple not supporting some features, but it seems most of that is behind.

AMUG is always doing reviews and goes into more depth than Barefeats, but hey, aren't a lot of people yet running 4 750s on Mac Pro either! 😉

I know some people actually went back to SCSI after all the support issues with SATA.

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Answer 9

alvarofp Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 24, 2006 8:07 PM in response to The hatter

sorry for the delayed reply. I was editing all week. Which brings me to the point I want to share: having bewen a professional AVID editor for the better part of the last 10 years I have seen Seagate Drives used many times inside AVID's chasises (plural of chasis?????) I agree they may be a little slower than the rest of the pack, but at least they are more reliable than others (some of whom were bought by Seagate) They work hard. I am curious about AMUG's tests and will be looking for the results.

Thanks for hte valuable opinion.

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