Could use help installing a new SSD drive

[3qX21hU5]

So as the title states, I just got myself my first SSD drive and im looking to install it tonight. I'm new to having multiple hard drives in one computer and was looking for some pointers.

Im using the Thermaltake Level 10 GT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133188 which has hotswap bays, dont know if this affects how I need to setup the drive.

The SSD is a 120gb drive and plan on using it to boot windows some other main programs I use, and then use my other drive for media storage. So was wondering if anyone has got any tips on what I need to do (Specially some help on the difference between Raid 0 and Raid 1 and what each does) I would greatly appreciate it.

[Computergeek01]

RAID 0 is striping, this aims to cut read time in half but it doubles the amount of time to write to the device and the failure rate of the logical drive.

RAID 1 is mirroring, this simply writes the data to all of the devices in the collection at the same time. This does not speed anything up it for redundancy and data preservation.

There is also RAID 0+1 if your controller supports it (The newegg link was down at the time of me writing this and you didn't tell us the name of your mobo). This requires at least four drives but gives you the benefits of both worlds. Since you have a case that in it's name supports hot swapping, I recommend this one.

Check to see if your controller supports RAID 5 since this is a pretty good option as well.

[slumpers]

Maybe I'm missing something, but are you trying to create a RAID with one SSD and one mechanical hard drive?

You do not need a RAID for this setup. Install your os and whatever software you have on your SSD, everything else on your regular drive. Windows does not have a problem recognizing multiple hard drives.

Hotswappable drives are for more complex RAID set ups (5, 6, etc).

Technically speaking, RAID 0 is not a RAID setup as it has no redundancy.

[3qX21hU5]

Thank slumpers, yes at the moment I am only going to be using 1 SSD and 1 mechanical hard drive. On the SSD I will have my OS and multimedia programs (Photoshop, dreamweaver, ect.) and the mechanical hard drive will be used for storage.

So I was not sure if I needed a RAID setup or not since I barely know anything about it. In the future 1-2 months I will be upgrading to add 2 more hard drives so I just figured I might as well get the setup right now so I dont have to change a lot later.

Also you asked what my MOBO is so I will just list my whole computer specs then you guys can tell me what the best route will be, then I can research how to do it.

Current Specs

Case - Thermaltake Level 10 GT
Link - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133188

Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77
Link - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128545

CPU - Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz
Link - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501

Mechanical HD - 1 TB Something Forgot the brand and not at home.

New SDD - OCZ Agility 4 - 128G
Link - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227807

dGPU - EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 680
Link - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130769

PSU - CORSAIR Professional Series 1200W

RAM - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB DDR3 1866
Link - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231615

Thats basically it I think other then cooling and stuff. I'm going to be using this computer as my main work computer for my new business which will deal heavily in multimedia and 3D imaging.

My main question now is since I will be adding 2 more HD's in the next month or so I should probably set it up as RAID 0+1?

[slumpers]

You won't be able to create a RAID set if you don't have all your hds yet. And if you create one later, most likely you will have to backup all the data on your mechanical drive, create the RAID set, and then move it back. Any data on the drives is lost when creating a RAID set.

Another thing I should point out is that your RAID is limited by the capacity of the smallest drive in the set. If you create a RAID 1 out of a 2-terabyte drives and a 1-terabyte drive, the capacity of the RAID set would only be 1 terabyte.

Since this is for multimedia editing, you might want to consider going for a RAID 5 or RAID 6 with hot spares, depending on how much you have to put into data security. Sometimes just regular back ups is more cost effective then getting a reliable RAID controller.

[3qX21hU5]

Ok thanks for the tips slumpers I'll look into them options tonight. Really appreciate the help guys.