Mailinglist Archive: opensuse-amd64 (321 mails)

["Richard Mixon (qwest)" <rnmixon@xxxxxxxxx>]

rrpalma@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:rrpalma@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Does anybody know if it is possible to have a software RAID 0 config
> under Linux with SATA drives that is also accesible from Win XP?
> What I would like to do is to configure 2 drives as software RAID 0
> under Linux 64, using FAT32.  Then configure those 2 same drives
> under Win XP, and also access them as RAID 0, obviously with no data
> loss.
>
> Is this possible?
>
> Thanks!

Ricardo,

Theoretically you could partition each disk in half (or some other
ratio), use RAID 0 on the first partition of each drive for Win XP and
RAID 0 on the second partition of each drive for Linux. But Linux and
Windows approach RAID differently.

BUT, Win XP does not support software RAID (directly). Win XP does
supports software RAID 0 using the BIOS level drivers that come with
some SATA "RAID" controllers. But, alas, at least int he setups I have
seen, the entire drive is taken up, not just one or more designated
partitions.

It is very frustrating trying to do software raid and share a drive
between Linux and Windows - I spent a lot of time trying. The good thing
about the Windows approach is that it appears you are doing hardware
RAID, where the entire drive is "mirrored" (RAID 1) or striped (RAID 0).
The good thing about the Linux approach is that its usually considerably
faster than the Windows driver approach.

The two best answers I know of are to either:
1) Spend the bucks on a true RAID contoller (about $300 US) that will
let you partition as many "partitions"/volumes as you need, one for each
OS;
or 2) Buy four drives, two for each OS. With Fry's and others selling
80GB Western Digital drives for a net of $50 these days, thats not a bad
way to go.

Good luck - Richard