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Can I install/mix IDE PATA and SATA hard disk drives in the same computer/PC and in a RAID array?

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Problem

My desktop PC has a Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R motherboard and a Samsung Spinpoint SATA hard disk drive. The motherboard supports RAID. I have an older IDE PATA hard disk drive taken from another PC that I don't want to waste. Is it possible to mix SATA and PATA drives in an internal RAID configuration? Also, is it possible to install the PATA hard drive in an external hard disk enclosure via a USB port?

Answer

You can install the older IDE PATA hard drive internally because the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R motherboard has one residual IDE PATA port that can connect two IDE hard drives or one hard drive and one IDE CD/DVD drive. (You can find reviews of this motherboard by entering its make and model in a search engine.

There are no eSATA ports for external SATA drives on the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R motherboard, instead it comes with a dual eSATA bracket that connects an internal SATA header on the motherboard to the bracket that fits into a slot at the back of the case. Therefore, you can use an external eSATA/USB 2.0 external hard-drive enclosure that fits an IDE PATA drive and use it as an external drive.

However, you cannot use an external or an internal IDE PATA drive with an internal SATA drive in a RAID array. This motherboard supports RAID, but all motherboard RAID controllers require that all of the drives in a RAID array should have the same kind of interface and preferably all have the same amount of disk space. If there are differences in the amount of disk space in the drives, the array will be based on the smallest drive's disk space and excess space on the larger drives will be unusable.

When PATA and SATA hard drives are installed on a motherboard, the BIOS setup program determines which of them is bootable (starts the system up). With some BIOS Setup Programs, all RAID controllers are set up as SCSI controllers, even though no SCSI hard drives are being used. On some motherboards it is not possible to change the boot order. If that is the case, and both PATA and SATA drives are installed, some motherboards always boot from the PATA drive and others always boot from the SATA drive. For more information on this, read the motherboard's user manual. If you don't have a copy, download one for that model from Gigabyte's website - gigabyte.com.

It is a better option to use a file-synchronisation program, such as Fileback-PC from http://www.fileback-pc.com/, or a backup program, such as AIS Backup from http://www.aiscl.co.uk/ to create and maintain a mirror drive than it is to use a RAID mirror option. Both of those products can save previous versions of files so that, if the latest copies are damaged, earlier versions can be restored.

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