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I've recently set up RAID 0 with two disks. I've done that via my Asus Prime X370 Pro's UEFI. Today I stumbled upon the terms "Software RAID", "Hardware RAID" and "Fake RAID". Most of the sources stated, that actual Hardware RAID from onboard controllers is really uncommon these days, and mostly Fake RAID is being used.

For one, I'm somewhat interested in what I'm using.

Also, I've been stumbling upon that stuff for a reason; I was planning to install ubuntu with dualboot alongside my windows installation; And every text I've read clearly recommended not to do this when using an actual Hardware RAID, because it likely causes a lot of trouble.

I've browsed the Asus Website and tried to look it up on google, but I couldn't figure out if my RAID system was Hardware or Fake.

Is there any way in general to determine which one it is, other than having a chat with the Asus customer service?

rqnn
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  • HW RAID means a special expensive card with its own CPU to take care of everything (these cards generally cost pretty as much as a MB). SW RAID means the OS takes care of everything (only Linux, BSD and the likes, Windows is too stupid to do SW RAID). FakeRAID is what the MB does. It should be mostly safe to do a dualboot install on it, except that Linux won't know it's on RAID, and RAID0 means you can easily lose all your data. – cylgalad Sep 08 '17 at 06:57
  • @rqnn If you do not have an enterpsirse level RAID card, I would only use software RAID; from my understanding even windows RAID is well enough although I only have used Linux MDRAID. If you have a hardware failure (Motherboard), you will have some trouble recovering your data even with a second MATCHING MB, where with software RAID it should be easy no matter your hardware configuration. – Damon Sep 11 '17 at 07:53
  • Software RAID is (as far as I understand) not an option for Dual Booting Linux and Windows, unfortunately :( I ended up splitting my array again, because Linux seems to have trouble with the RAID drivers of the new AMD Ryzen (did not recognize it) – rqnn Sep 11 '17 at 08:06
  • @rqnn you are right; linux can, but not windows and linux. Sorry I missed that little detail :). – Damon Sep 11 '17 at 20:22

1 Answers1

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The proper way to determine your RAID level is to look in the computer's hard disk list, or to look in the bios.

If your OS or BIOS can "see" the two disks, it's a software RAID. If you only see one disk listed, it's more than likely a hardware RAID.

It's perfectly safe to do either of these kinds of RAIDs without issue, though a hardware RAID is known to be better. I've been using software RAIDs in a live working environment for years without fail.

If you're going to mess with software RAIDing at all, refer to your device's BIOS settings. That's the safest place to setup, configure, and undo RAIDs, in my experience.

I'd not risk fake RAIDing at all. I'd worry about it being an outside tool creating the RAID because it can and will most likely lead to data loss or crashes without cause. Nearly any motherboard with multiple drive connectors can do a software raid from the BIOS, which I recommend.

Dooley_labs
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  • First, thanks for your answer! I can still see the two disks in BIOS and can edit/undo the array in there. So i guess it's not Hardware. I'm a bit confused now, though. You're saying you'd not risk fake RAIDing, and use the BIOS RAID instead. I thought that BIOS RAID is the "Fake RAID" and "Software RAID" is the one set up from the OS? Or am I totally confusing something right now? – rqnn Sep 07 '17 at 22:05
  • Software RAIDing refers to the RAID created by the BIOS. I think you're using fake RAID to refer to a software RAID, in which case it's completely fine. I assumed Fake RAID was a third party software, separate from your BIOS. If my answer fits your question, don't forget to mark it as the answer! – Dooley_labs Sep 07 '17 at 22:10
  • Thanks for the further clarification. It seems like I'm using the only proper RAID setup for dual booting windows with ubuntu (the one set up in BIOS). All good! – rqnn Sep 07 '17 at 22:14