RAID Question

Hi All -

I need a quick refresher. It's been awhile since I have worked with RAID. I have 2 extra hard disks at home 1 - 15.3 GB IBM, 1 - 20 GB IBM.

I know that theoretically the drives in a RAID array should be identical. But is this a requirement? Will I take a performance hit? I am toying with the idea of using those 2 drives in a RAID 0 (no parity). I have searched the forum and have determined that this can be done without wasting any space in the array, but I wanted to know if anyone has actually done this before. If so, was it successful? There isn't going to be anything crucial on this array. It's mostly going to be used mostly for storage of video files, some pictures, downloaded files and temporary backup of my data when I do an OS reload.

Now for a second question. If at some point I do an OS reload, should I load the drivers when XP prompts me to in the text part of the setup, or can I wait and do it after setup has completed and still get at my data?

Thanks in advance.

//RAID 0 STRIPING = Increased write performance, logical drive = size of smallest drive x X drives (2 1gig drives plus 1 10gig drive = 3gig logical drive), no fault tolarance, good for capturing AV, in your situation, you'd have about 30.6gig.

//JBOD = Combination of all drives but no fault tolerance and no performance benefit. But, you get all of your space usable.

Won't bother with any more raid as it's not really applicable unless you want to mirror.

If you want to load the OS, create your logical drive in the array manager and then hit f6 to load your drive on startup. Make sure your driver matches your cards bios.

Good Luck