Testing / comparing : Intel D975XBX2 / Asus P5B DX ***56K WARNING***

[hotchoc]

In RAID 0, data is striped across 2 or more drives. Your total storage capacity therefore is the sum of all the drives in the array. PROs: Read and write speed, large storage. CONs: Lose 1 drive and you've lost EVERYTHING.

In RAID 1, the same data is mirrored on 2 drives. Your total storage is limited to the capacity of the smallest drive. PROs: Security. If a drive fails you can replace it and the raid controller will automatically re-sync it. CONs: Smaller storage. Write speed is slower because the same data has to be committed to both drives. Read speed is actually good because the controller can read data from either drive.

I think i should be going for RAID 1 in this case. I always wanted to backup my data in such a way that if a new data is entered into drive A, an exact data is replicated in say drive B.

Some questions though.
1. For RAID 1 to work, what options, configurations, software (Intel Matrix Storage Console), drivers do i need to install other than hitting the F6 option in the XP installation ?
2. I'll be having 2X 320GB Sata HD. Does this mean i will effectively have only 320Gb of space after implementing RAID 1 ?
3. What are meant by strip size? What are the amount i should put in when creating the RAID set (as stated in the manual) ?
4. Is it possible to create partition(s) within the RAID drives itself? I.e. splitting the 320Gb to say 200GB (Drive C) and 120 (drive D).
5. Let's say, I have already installed XP w/o the RAID drivers. Is there anyway to bypass the XP installation again ?

p.s. Btw, how did removing the master jumper solved the IDE dvd drive problem? Care to explain ? Thanks