RAID and Partitions, guidance Needed

Question

Alright

I have a Biostar TA790GX3A2+ Mobo

2x Seagate 750Gb Hard drive (with 2 different speeds)

an X4 9750

A GeForce 9800GT

and 2GB RAM

Hardware Specs link text

I want to configure my computer with partitions in various RAID arrays.

The Partitions I know i want (disk letters are mostly for reference here)

C: XP Boot

D: XP Swap

E: XP Run

F: Games

G: Data

The Partitions I think I want (repeat caveat)

H: small FAT for Win Legacy and DOS

I: Linux

J: Linux Swap

K-?M?: Other Linux /whatever partitions

N & O: Attic for D1 and D2

What I'd like to do, is have C: written on Disk 1 (D1),.. D: on D2,.. E: and F: striped on D1 & D2,.. G: mirrored or D1 & D2,.. I: on D2 (so i can just switch disc boot priority to open in Ubuntu),.. J: on D1,.. and H: somewhere low on D1

I am inexperienced with VMs, so i am unsure as to whether those run out of XP, or whether i need to reserve a primary partition for them. However, I think they would be preferable for testing new OS's to scheduling a partition for the same purpose.

I'm also not married to XP, but -64 IS pretty important to me.

QUestion Time

1) Ignoring the irrationality of it all, is such a configuration possible? If not, can some pseudo-approximation be achieved?

2) My RAID is software, isnt it?

3) How much should I short a 750GB HD? And should i use that space for my attics, or for my attics and something else, or for something else (.iso's perhaps?)?

4) if XP is striped on D1 & D2, will that interfere egregiously with my Swap writes on D2? If so, would striping both XP and Swap relieve (or at least mitigate) that issue? Should XP and Swap just be written normally on 2 different HDs?

5) Should I keep DL's and Drivers on E: (XP Run), F: (Games), or elsewhere?

6) Is 4GB enough for C:?

7) Is 30GB enough (or too much) for E:?

8) How much to reserve for the Linux and sub-Linux partitions? Also, where on the platter do you think i should put them?

9) Am I a fool to use FAT16 instead of FAT32 for H: because I'd rather run 95 than 98SE? If not, do you think 2GB or 4GB?

10) I cant predict what my Max Commit Charge will be, so recommendations for Pagefile size? 5GB? 12GB?

11) VMs, where do I run them? do they exacerbate anything? Would it be better to just emulate Linux, 95, and DOS?

EC) What havent I considered that I really should?

Notes: computer is mostly for playing games and watching media, though I wouldnt rule out the use of particularly blah-intensive anything.

Answer 1

1. No. No.
2. It depends on the jumper settings. pins 1-2 for software, 3-4 for hardware. Unless you have no pins, then it's software on weekends.
3. Drives should never be shorted more than 4-5 cm. for a 750GB, 3.2 should be enough.
4. Yes.
5. Keep all D's on E and all L's on F. It holds colour better that way.
6. It's too much.
7. Blue.
8. This is a matter of personal preference. I keep them on the left so they load first.
9. See 7.
10. Just remove RAM to match whatever partition space you want.
11. Emulation requires a steady hand, too much and it splits. If so re-heat and stir rapidly.

EC: 2 things: Don't do drugs, and April fools is just on April 1st!

Update:

I assumed your question was a joke, but your comment leaves me unsure. If you are serious, I must say that you seem to be vastly overambitious and a bit confused. If that is the case I apologize for my initial reply which was just a joke and offer the following:

Keep the two drives separate, do not try to RAID them in any way.

Don't make more partitions than you need. Having 3 partitions for one XP install is pointless.

Put your main OS on the fastest drive, and make the OS partition (C:) large enough to hold the OS and all the apps you expect to install. If you want to install other operating systems on the machine, install them on this drive as well and reserve the other drive for data. That way you reduce the risk of wiping data when you mess about with the operating systems.

Once windows is installed, you can put the swap file on the other drive, so that the OS and swap are not using the same physical drive, but I don't think it will really be worth it in your case especially:

IF you are going to run VM's, keep the virtual drives on a separate disk from the host OS and the host OS swap.

So in summary, I would do something like this:

Fastest drive:

C: - windows XP and all it's apps, games etc. 100+ GB.

D: - Downloads, temporary files - 400-500GB.

Rest of the drive: Other (modern) operating systems, if you don't want to run them in VMs.

Slowest drive:

One partition for all important data, plus all virtual machines. Virtual machines don't need their own partitions, they can be installed into files that simulate real drives.

Instead of installing win95 natively on a modern motherboard and trying to find drivers for everything, I'd try something like dosbox.