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I was wondering if RAID 1 disks are usable straight away, without the RAID controller. Possible?

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up vote 3 down vote accepted

Depends on the RAID controller.

It if stores metadata on the discs, then obviously no. The RAID volume you see may be in a partition the controller interprets.

That should be the norm today.

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I was wondering if I could use an existing disk simply inserting it as the first disk in the RAID 1 array. Once in use, I would add the other disks –  Riccardo Mar 18 '13 at 7:58
THe answer most likely is no. –  TomTom Mar 18 '13 at 8:52
Tom, thanks. :-) –  Riccardo Mar 18 '13 at 9:33
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As far as I know and have experienced, you can't just take a disk which was once part of a RAID configuration and plug it in to any computer hoping that it can be used as any other disk.

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And you tried that out with how many hundred different brands of raid controllers? Just to put SOME quantifiable information into your post. –  TomTom Mar 18 '13 at 6:14
Can't brag with quantities, but for the ones I've tried (MegaRAID/PERC, HighPoint, Linux Software Raid and a few others I can't name) this did not succeed. –  sbrattla Mar 18 '13 at 6:23
Please notice that I'm pointing to RAID 1 (mirrors) –  Riccardo Mar 18 '13 at 7:54
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