Help with RAID

[Treewyrm]

Umm. Often there is a lot of confusion about RAID. First of all most motherboards that claim to have RAID are simply so-called "fakeRAID" solutions: all the "magic" is mostly done in software with all processing offloaded to main processor, whereas true hardware RAID solutions have their own processor and memory. Some operating systems can do RAID themselves (mdadm in Linux for instance), and there is nothing wrong with that really. I've been using purely software implementations, fakeRAID as well as real hardware RAID configurations, they all have their pros and cons, deciding which one to use is a matter of what you're trying to achieve with RAID, what are your needs and what your budget is.

So, my understanding is that you're doing fakeRAID (judging by configuring it in your motherboard BIOS). Onboard Intel RST isn't bad though, I rarely had problems with it, but if you'd like to use it I would suggest to check for BIOS updates first. Also don't forget to update RST drivers too (linky). I would also suggest to check SMART data of your hard drives in array. It may help to determine if there is a problem with your hard drives and what problem it is. If amount of reallocated sectors is above zero you might want to get yourself a new hard drive. Though some lived just fine for years and years, but typically it indicates there is a problem with your hard drive. Other parameters, like read error rate, might point out at bad cables.

If you prefer purely software implementation in windows software RAID is done in disk management utility. Though again it will result in reinstallation.