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    N6420 HDD Configuration

    Discussion in 'Fujitsu' started by Sonnie Parker, Dec 4, 2006.

  1. Sonnie Parker

    Sonnie Parker Notebook Consultant

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    I'm about to pull the plug on one of the Fujitsu N6420's with dual HDD.

    I don't really understand Raid 0, 1, etc... and want to make sure I configure it properly.

    I'm wanting to use one drive to backup the other. Is there a particular configuration I need to request to take care of this?

    Thanks,
    Sonnie
     
    Sonnie Parker, Dec 4, 2006
    #1
  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Yup...you need RAID 1 for that.

    RAID 0 = Stripping (Combine into one big drive)
    RAID 1 = Mirroring (Copy)
     
    Greg, Dec 4, 2006
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  3. circa86

    circa86 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    can you configure the N6420 in Raid 0 or Raid 1? i couldn't when I got my N6210, they really added a lot of customization this time.
     
    circa86, Dec 4, 2006
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  4. Sonnie Parker

    Sonnie Parker Notebook Consultant

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    So, does RAID 1 automatically copy and is it easy to access if something happened to one drive?

    Is this better than having a program like Norton Ghost?

    Thanks!
    Sonnie
     
    Sonnie Parker, Dec 4, 2006
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  5. Sonnie Parker

    Sonnie Parker Notebook Consultant

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    I'm not sure... I was gonna try though... they may not allow it still.
     
    Sonnie Parker, Dec 4, 2006
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  6. mb2k

    mb2k Notebook Guru

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    Has anyone added a 2nd hard drive to a 6420 that only has 1? I just got one and want to upgrade to raid for performance/speed. I popped the cover and it appears that you need an adapter for the 2nd drive, but I'm not sure whether it's a common adapter and what steps are needed to enable RAID. (haven't poked around in the BIOS yet though)

    Thx.
     
    mb2k, Dec 31, 2006
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  7. Sonnie Parker

    Sonnie Parker Notebook Consultant

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    I wouldn't mind learning how to setup RAID 1 with my two hard drives in my N6420.
     
    Sonnie Parker, Dec 31, 2006
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  8. Notebook Solutions

    Notebook Solutions Company Representative NBR Reviewer

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    Here is a quick guide to RAID.

    RAID 0: gives best performance. It combines your whole capacity. 2*80 GB means you will have 1*160 GB that has great performance. Downside is that if one drive fails you cannot back up anything.

    RAID 1: gives you optimal security. If one drive fails, you always have another hard drive that has the same data. The files are being copied to both hard drives (mirroring). Downside is that if you have 2*80 GB it will mean that you have only 80 GB (80 GB is gone for mirroring).

    RAID is easy to configure. Just download RAID drivers for your motherboard, enter the RAID bios and configure it. RAID 0 is configured in 1 sec, but RAID 1 configuring takes pretty long.

    Charlie :)
     
    Notebook Solutions, Dec 31, 2006
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  9. circa86

    circa86 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    when you add a hard drive to any N6000 model, you will have to get another hard drive enclosure, which you can get from Fujitsu I believe or Fujitsu resellers.
     
    circa86, Dec 31, 2006
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  10. mb2k

    mb2k Notebook Guru

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    Can you elaborate on this? I chatted w/ a Fuji person and he was unaware of any raid configurations for the 6420. Or were you just referring to enabling RAID in general? I would think the mb would have to already support RAID to do so.

    Also, he did mention that I could call their tech support and order a bracket which he said was relatively cheap.
     
    mb2k, Dec 31, 2006
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  11. mb2k

    mb2k Notebook Guru

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    Well, got the bracket (free, to my suprise) and popped in another 160g hdd. No RAID options that I'm aware of, but I've now got 320g total space.

    Tony
     
    mb2k, Mar 16, 2007
    #11