Is RAID supported?

Can ATI save images from a RAID-0 or RAID-5 set?
Can ATI restore images to a RAID-0 or RAID-5 set?
Does it support RAID save/image from its bootable media?

 

Hello Vanguard,

That's a bit like asking "How long is a piece of string?"

Creating an image under Windows should be o.k.

However, imaging and restoring after booting from the Linux based rescue CD may well be a problem. You will need to specify the exact make/model of the RAID controller/controller chipset and, even then, you may not obtain a definitive answer until you test the free trial version yourself.

Regards

 

I figured to ask since RAID is mentioned but not described how to image and restore to it. I remember Drive Image saying (or maybe it was Symantec that told me) that it would support restores to RAID-0 but not RAID-5.

ACronis has some articles about using RAID. Also, at http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/features-imaging.html, Acronis says their TI 8.0 supports all levels of RAID controllers. However, what it claimed may not match what is real. I was wondering if anyone actually had experience in restoring their image to RAID-0 and also to RAID-5. They also say that they support DVD-R for saving images but with the footnote that 3rd party DVD recording software is needed (and I don't remember any that are free); i.e., you need to get the UDF packet driver from somewhere other than Acronis.

While they claim to support all RAID levels for images, I'd like to find out if there are any "footnotes" that means extra software, extra setup, and extra cost, and whether it really is a reliable hardware configuration to use with True Image, especially for restores since images are worthless if they cannot be restored. They say they support RAID and yet the TI 8.0 manual at http://download.acronis.com/pdf/trueimage8.0_ug.en.pdf does not have any mention of RAID.

I don't really think there would be a problem in *saving* the image fileset to a RAID set anymore than writing any other file. However, the concern is being able to RESTORE to a RAID set. While some RAID controllers permit a non-destructive change from non-RAID to RAID sets (i.e., they preserve the existing sector content when converting), many do not and switching to RAID often wipes out the content of the sectors on the hard drives.

 

Hi, I have a Supermicro P4SCT+II based server with two system disks running in RAID1 off the onboard Marvell controller. I also have a RAID5 with 6 disks attached to a Broadcom RAIDcore controller. The problem is that the Acronis Rescue disks can not see any of the disks attached to my system. My solution is to have a second maintenance OS in its own partition that I can boot into to restore the main OS when needed. It's not the optimal solution but it works...

 

Hello Vanguard,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Yes, Acronis True Image 8.0 supports all levels of RAID arrays along with the wide variety of modern RAID controllers.

Please be aware that when Acronis True Image 8.0 is running from under Windows it uses standard Windows drivers and therefore supports all RAID arrays that are properly recognized by Windows.

Please also note that Acronis True Image 8.0 Bootable Rescue CD is Linux based and has it's own assortment of drivers. Sometimes some of the RAID arrays are not properly recognized because of a lack of the appropriate drivers for the respective RAID controller. However, this sort of problems is usually easy to solve.

Please download and install the free trial version of Acronis True Image 8.0, create Bootable Rescue CD, boot your PC from this CD and see how Acronis True Image 8.0 recognizes your RAID array.

If you will be satisfied with the work of the trial version of Acronis True Image 8.0 then please visit Acronis online store to purchase the full version of the product.

Please also note that we have a flexible system of discounts and the amount of the discount varies depending on the number of copies you want to purchase.

In case you are planning to purchase many copies, please contact our Sales Team at sales@acronis.com.

If there will be any problems recognizing your RAID array then first of all please make sure that you use Bootable Rescue CD created using the latest build (937) of Acronis True Image 8.0.

If the problem still persists with the latest build (937) of Acronis True Image 8.0 then please create Acronis Report and Linux system information (sysinfo.txt) as it is described in Acronis Help Post.

Please also do the following:

- Launch Acronis Report Utility once again and select the "Create Bootable Floppy" option;
- Insert a blank floppy disk in the A: drive and proceed with creation of the bootable floppy;
- Boot the computer from this diskette and wait for report creation process to finish;
- Collect the report file from the floppy;
- Rename the report created from under Windows to report_win.txt and report created using the bootabale floppy to report_diskette.txt.

Send these files to support@acronis.com along with the exact model of your RAID controller and the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with the solution (implement the support for your RAID controller as soon as possible).

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

 

Hello Lightheaded,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please follow the instructions from my previous post.

You might also be interested in Acronis True Image plug-in for BartPE.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

 

I know that when I tried TI8.0 it did not support the ICH6R controller in a Raid 1 array. I am willing to try TI 9.0 if it can be confirmed to me that it will work on this controller in this configuration. And no I'm not interested in downloading it to try it. I don't have time to do their homework.

Thanks,
Shad

 

Hello Shad,

Knowing that TI 9.0 works with someone else's ICH6R controller/RAID 1 array isn't a guarantee that it will do likewise on your own system. There are few more things to consider as well, such as the BIOS and other embeded firmware.

I'm sure Acronis test as many configurations as is practicable but there are just too many variables out there in the PC world. I doubt that you will ever really know for sure unless you make the effort to download the free trial version and try it out.

Regards

 

I would like to test this functionality on my computer, using the onboard nVidia RAID controller on my nForce 4 SLI chipset, but when I try to install the 9.0 (build 2302) trial version, I get an error message stating "Registration database is not available. Please try again later."

Before I decide to buy this software, I need to know whether it will work...

I notice that others have had this problem installing the trial version, but that you have provided them with a link to download a version that does not require registration. May I please have access to this link?

Thanks,

Neal McConachie