There is no one size fits all approach when it comes to setting up RAID on your PC, but fortunately, in Windows 10 it’s incredibly simple.
In this post, we’ll go over how to set up RAID 0 in Windows 10, along with some general informational regarding some of the other various RAID setups and which one you may want to opt for. The RAID setups we will be focussing on here are three of the most common – RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 10. In future posts we will discuss other RAID setups such as RAID 5 and 6.
RAID combines multiple drives into a single storage system, and offers a number of benefits depending on the RAID configuration. The benefits of RAID include increased storage capacity, improved speeds, and redundancy. Redundancy, as we’ve discussed in a previous post, simply means there will always be a copy of your data if one drive in the array fails. RAID setups, or configurations, are given a number which denotes how they are setup. Three of the most common RAID configurations are RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 10. RAID 0, or striping, essentially just combines to hard drives into a single unit with a larger storage capacity and faster read/write speeds. However, it’s debatable whether or not RAID 0 counts as RAID, as there is no redundancy; if one drive fails, there is no copy of the data. RAID 1, or mirroring, does provide redundancy, as it mirrors data across both drives in the array. If one drive in a RAID 1 array fails, there will be a copy on the second drive. RAID 10 essentially combines the benefits, as well as drawbacks, of RAID 0 and 1.
To set up a RAID 0 array, firstly you will need to obtain a drive of the same make and model as your current main drive. While it is possible to use different drives, this is not ideal. You will then need to back up the data on your drive, as you will need to format it. Once you have done this, open Disk Management; you will then see an option to “create and format hard disk partitions. Locate the drives you wish to combine, and delete each volume. Now, you can get to work setting up your RAID 0 array. Windows 10 doesn’t actually refer to it as RAID, instead opting for Storage Spaces. Type this in the search bar, and when Storage Spaces is brought up, you’ll be given the option to create what’s known as a storage pool. Select the drives you wish to combine, and select “create pool”. You’ll then be asked to pick a “resiliency type”, which is just another term for level. RAID 0 is known as “Simple (no resiliency)”. Click Create storage space, and your RAID 0 setup is complete.