Have you always wanted a RAID setup, but were weary of spending over $500 on a Drobo or $50 to $200 on a RAID card with less than perfect reviews? I have pieced together the perfect solution, using whatever hardware is available, a copy of Windows XP Pro and the ability to copy some commands to the command line (Note: the command line isn’t needed unless RAID 1 or 5 is going to be used ). There are many advantages to using software RAID over hardware RAID. The first advantage is that drives can have different interfaces. For example, a USB, IDE and SATA drive could be made into a RAID array as long as they are the same size. The second advantage, is that software RAID is cheaper than hardware RAID seeing as there is no need for a RAID card or external RAID solution, such as a DROBO. Additionally, using Windows XP as the software for the RAID users will be able to access the RAID array from Mac OS X, Linux, or another Windows machine via a local network. Also, with a little bit of free software users can be notified by email when a drive fails. The last advantage of a software RAID is the ability to move the RAID array to different hardware. With the failure of a hardware RAID controller users often have to find identical hardware to recover the data from their array. With software RAID a user only needs to move the array to hardware that has Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 installed to recover their array. Now on to the details of the actually building the array.

Step #1 Pick the type of RAID?

The first step is to decide what type of RAID will be needed. This can be done by looking at my article describing the different types of RAID that are available in Windows XP Pro. Note, if RAID 1 or 5 is chosen there will need to be some modified files installed. Once the type of RAID is decided upon, it’s time to move onto the hardware.

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Worried about not getting to your software RAID 1 or 5 in time to replace a failed drive? DiskCheckup for Windows XP solves this problem by notifying users by email when a drive fails. DiskCheckup also lets users view the SMART details of a hard drive to see highly detailed information about the drive. The best part is that DiskCheckup if free for personal use.

Step #1

First go to http://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm and download DiskCheckup.

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Ever try keeping track of your hours in a spread sheet or a text file? While these methods are suitable, they can be frustrating to quickly clock in and out and can become very unwieldy after many entries. This dilemma is solved with a time tracking application called OfficeTime. This application provides easy start and stop, easy management of multiple projects, ability to keep track of expenses, invoicing, and graphing of time. Additionally, OfficeTime has integration with iCal, seamlessly creating events that coordinate with the times in OfficeTime. As well as a few other nifty features. Although this program comes with a pretty hefty price tag at $47 I can still strongly recommend it to anybody who is need of a powerful application to keep track of time.