Important Notes; Introduction; Raid Basics - Fujitsu Siemens Computers JMicron JMB362 User Manual

Important notes

Notes Importantnotes
This chapter provides safety information that must be followed when using RAID. This manual
also includes further notes that provide useful information relating to your notebook.
The "Fujitsu Siemens Computers Recovery solution" provides a means of
restoring factory settings for the software, provided that the data backup
has been carried out prior to setting up the RAID.
The data backup/data recovery procedure for your PC is described in
detail in the "Recovery Process" manual.
Please create a backup of your system after setting up your device to match your
personal requirements. If data is damaged or lost, it will be possible to restore the
installed software, including the operating system, and personal settings. If you have
not made any backup copies it will not be possible to restore the system.
The factory settings can be restored at any time, provided that the hard disk is not faulty.
Please note the safety information provided in the "Safety" manual
and in the following safety notes.
If the PC is fitted with a CD/DVD writer drive then this should be used for
creating subsequent backup copies. A data CD/DVD should be made on
a regular basis. It is also useful to extend your PC using an external USB
mass storage device (hard disk or memory stick).

Introduction

This chapter provides a brief introduction and background information relating to RAID and
the RAID host controller for AMILO products that feature JMicron JMB362 RAID.
RAID settings can be adjusted using either the BIOS Setup Utility or the RAID software (under
Windows Vista). The Windows Vista RAID software is generally preferred for its ease of use.

RAID basics

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks, also know as 'disk array') is a method
of combining two hard disk drives into one logical unit.
A disk array can be used advantageously to improve either the performance or
error tolerance (data protection) of a system.
Error tolerance is achieved by means of data redundancy. If one drives fails, an identical copy of the
data will still be held on another drive. This can prevent failure of the operating system and data loss.
The operating system identifies all hard disks in a disk array as a single physical hard
disk. The individual disk drives in a disk array are called "members". Information on
the configuration of a member is stored in the reserved sector of the hard disk. This
information allows the hard disk to be identified as a member.
By convention, there are different ways in which hard disk drives can be combined. The
different methods are referred to as RAID levels. The different RAID levels correspond to
different performance levels, security levels and implementation costs.
10600854936, edition 1
Introduction
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