Dual Boot FastTrak100 RAID Array?

[Riddek]

Hi,
I'm setting up a FastTrak100 RAID(0) array, and I want to install a removable HD bay for the OS HD. The reason I want to do this is to swap between a Win98(or ME) for NLE and a Win2K operating system for 3D stuff. Is this possible? If the RAID array is formatted under Win98, can the Win2K OS access it? Or am I asking for trouble trying to "cross the streams"?
Thanks,
Riddek.

[Pertti]

If your OS is not located on a FT drive, there is no reason for it not to work.

I have W95B, W98SE and W2K in my Marvel system, and all the OS:s can use the same array on my FT33.

The FT Array is just another HD as far as the OS is concerned.

[Riddek]

Excellent!
Thanks Pertti. (I have a Marvel(G400) as well)

[cjyo~]

I have a Fasttrak 100 Raid (2 x 45gb IBM 75GXPs) with a triple boot system on one drive, using System Commander 2000. Two 98SE systems and one Win2k, all FAT32.

No problems at all. The only thing to remember is to install the Fasttrak drivers on each system.

[Riddek]

cjyo~,
I never thought about a "true" multiboot system...(I was going to do the HD swapping thing) That's a great idea! Can you tell me more about System Commander 2000?(who makes it, how much is it, where can I download it?)

Also, my OS drive is UDMA100 as well. Would I notice any substancial performance increase if I bought a FastTrak100 contoller card for it, or should I just connect it directly to my Asus P3B-F motherboard?

Thanks,
Riddek.

[Dr Mordrid]

I use a 5 way multiboot system: Win98SE, Win98SE just for editing, Linux, WinNT4 and I have an opening for Win2K that'll be filled soon. I use Partition Magic's bundled BootMagic program which works just fine.

My boot drive is now a 20g Maxtor ATA66 7,200 rpm split 5 ways with the "normal" Win98 bootup getting 5 gigs. The other are split even amongst the remaining ~15 gigs.

The Fasttrak100 has dual 120g arrays, each consisting of two 60g IBM 75GXP's. The other systems here use Maxtor DiamondMax Plus40's.

A single drive will run just as fast on an ATA33 interface as on an ATA66 or ATA100. Where you run into bottlenecks is when you use two ATA66 or ATA100 drives in a RAID array using an ATA33 RAID card. Their combined speed then can overrun an ATA33 interface, especially with the new Maxtor and IBM 7,200 rpm ATA100 drives.

The same problem can happen using fast ATA100 drives on an ATA66 controller. My Fasttrak66 just couldn't keep up with the 75GXP's since an array with just two of them can transfer at over 66 mb/s.

Dr. Mordrid



[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 27 October 2000).]

[Riddek]

Hey Doc,
Do you know how Partition Magic compares to System Commander 2000? Which one is more reliable/stable/robust?

[Alexei]

A stupid question: when you set up a multiboot using BootMagic or System Commander 2000, do you have to separately install in each OS every programm you want to use in each system? In other words, if I have a Win98 and Win2000, and want to use, say, MS Office in each of them, do I have to install it twice, first under one OS, then under another?

[Riddek]

Alexei,
I believe you must install the application for each operating system you have. Each OS partition acts as a seperate computer.

[Pertti]

Alexei and Riddek,

You only install BootMagic on the primary OS.

I have the OS:s on primary partitions of 3 HD:s, and Installed the OS:s with each of them connected as the primary master.

When I got the OS:s installed, I connected all the HD:s in to the system, and configured BM in W95B to hide the alternative OS:s from the active one.

W2K did require some manual editing of the start-up files, but works just fine now.

[This message has been edited by Pertti (edited 28 October 2000).]

[cjyo~]

I'm not sure how it stacks up against Partition Magic, but System Commander 2000 gets the Multi boot job done for me and also has an easy to use partition utility.

Fasttrack definitely will make a big difference, not because it's ATA100, but because it reads and writes to multiple drives at the same time.

Yes, you do have to install each application multiple times if you want to use it with each system, but you can see all the files on the other system drives as long they are compatible formats.
http://www.systemcommander.com/product/sc2_ind.html

[Sciascia]

Doc,
Just a simple question...How big is your power supply? For all of those drives and I'm sure ou have all of your slots filled. Seems like you would be pulling alot of current.

[Dr Mordrid]

A GOOD 300 watt model. I picked it from the Athlon compatability list even though I use Intel processors. They are the topnotch power supplies since the Athlons draw so much current.

http://www1.amd.com/athlon/power

Dr. Mordrid



[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 02 November 2000).]