Intel Matrix Storage / Raid 1 / Asus P5Q-Pro

Question

I have configured two 1TB Western Digital Green Hard drive into Raid 1 Array via my motherboard BIOS last month. Everything works fine and all data are copied to array and system works properly.

few days ago after Blue Screen Error my system restarted and bios reset to default settings. i have forgot to set SATA Controller to RAID in BIOS.

System turned on and after boot i have imported some photos from my digital camera memory to hard disk.

Tonight I have realized that i forgot to set SATA Controller to RAID, so i restart PC and then change BIOS Settings, after reboot Disk Checking appears on the screen. I have canceled the Disk Checking process and after the windows is up, open up windows explorer and check my drive. My new files are not shown but Intel Matrix Storage Console says the array is working and status is OK !

after that i restart the PC and This time enter the Disk Checking. it detect some issue on Drive D and start to check and repair drive D (the raid array).

I think the procedure will sync data between both drives, but from messages that shown on screen i relieved that my .RAF and .CR2 (RAW images from Fuji and Canon Cameras) files are deleted ! and show some message about deleting files from Index and some information about Folder Structure.

When Windows is up, I opened up Windows Explorer. Both 2 folders that i created last night was created but without any file in it ! all files in that 2 folders are missing !

So,

If any drive failure happens or Bios reset, how can i sync data between my Raid Drives and rebuilt array?

Is Intel Matrix Storage reliable solution ?

Thanx,

My System Info:
CPU:Q9550
Main Board: Asus P5Q-Pro
RAM: 4 GB - OCZ Dual Channel
OS: Windows 7 - 64bit
Drives : 1 SSD 64 (OS) + 2 1TB WD (RAID 1)

Answer 1

Is Intel Matrix Storage reliable solution ?

In the big picture I would say "no". Hardware RAID solutions are the best. Adaptec, LSI, or other big name. Integrated RAID are not as good. Hardware RAID cards DO NOT loose there config unless you delete them. It sounds like your RAID had an issue and the write command only partially completed on the second hdd.

RAID 1 is mirroring so just copy the changed files manually. RAID 0 is stripping and that would be bad.

Be sure to track down the thing that cause the blue screen using the windows event log. Update drivers and etc to track down the source of the blue screen.

If there is a bad sector or something on either hard drive, "hardware RAID solutions" hide all of these issues from windows.

Answer 2

What version of the Intel RAID drivers are you using? Make sure it is up to date. I have used a version that regularly had a RAID 1 fall out of sync. Updating fixed the issue for me.