I want combine (4) 80G drives into (1) 320G drve

[SalemCat]

I have several old 80GB PATA HDs that I'd like to use for Backup purposes. Sadly, 80GB isn't very large anymore.

Is there a way to combine several Physical Drives into (1) large Virtual Drive ? Maybe (4) 80GB into (1) 320GB ?

Preferably software. Maybe MS Home Server ?

Of course I could break up my files and back them up separately (Data on one Partition, OS on another, etc. But I'm way too lazy to do that).

I do have a spare computer I could use as a dedicated Backup Server.

I'd rather not buy a RAID Card. Good ones cost more than my spare 80GB HDs are worth. Unless there is a decent RAID Card for $30 or so.

I had a cheap RAID Card with Silicon Image chips, and it was awful. I would not buy that brand again.

(In the old days I owned a VSB HD Controller Card that cached HDs and combined them, too. I don't own that anymore. It was very cool at the time.)

I'm usng Carbonite right now, but I'd like a local Backup solution too.

Of course I could wait until my Tax Refund and buy a WD USB 500GB Backup, but that would be too EZ.

[Midknyte]

I would not do RAID0 with 4 drives. If one drive fails, you lose the data on ALL the drives.

You would be better off doing RAID5, but I've never seen a RAID5 card for only $30.

http://www.acnc.com/04_01_00.html

[SalemCat]

RAID O is a risk I can take. All the Data is on Carbonite anyhow. And I do an occasional Complete Backup on a single USB HD.

I'd just like another large drive to do daily Backups on.

[Midknyte]

Preferably software. Maybe MS Home Server ?

You probably mean RAID using Dynamic Disks. Many backup programs have problems with Dynamic Disks.

I wouldn't recommend Home Server. There are some data corruption issues. It's intended to be headless, so it's not like the Win2k or 2k3 series.
http://www.dailytech.com/Windows+Home+Server+Data+Corruption/article10163.htm

Of course I could break up my files and back them up separately (Data on one Partition, OS on another, etc. But I'm way too lazy to do that).

OS and data are usually separate on servers. There are certain things like disk quotas and voume shadow copy that are assigned by volume.

If you need a backup program, then you'd need some place to put the backup files anyway. Server-level backup programs are way more expensive than desktop apps.

[SalemCat]

Well, it's looking like my spare 80G HDs will be joining my spare 2GB HDs in the basement. Oh well.

[Sterling_Aug]

Sell the four used 80GB drives on ebay and use the money to buy a new 320GB drive. It should be a perfect wash.

[MJCfromCT]

Sell the four used 80GB drives on ebay and use the money to buy a new 320GB drive. It should be a perfect wash.

This is the perfect solution. RAID 0 with 4 old drives? Even if you could afford to lose the data, it would just be a PITA....

[SalemCat]

I stopped by the local Target, and there was a close-out on WD Elements External USB HD - 500GB for $64.98 !! WooHoo !!

[Lgbpop]

What kind of HDD is it: IDE, SATA or PITA? :)

[SalemCat]

The WD Elements Ext HDs are pretty basic.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=333

They are not at all forthcoming about what drive is inside. Being a pessimist, I'd say it's likely 5400RPM PATA. I could be wrong. Anyhow, I'm not opening it up to find out.

I've been using it for a few days for Daily Backups, with Live OneCare, and it seems to work real nice. No complaints.

By the way, I was thinking of buying another. But I visited three local Targets, and they are all sold out. At $64.98 people recognized a bargain. Oh well.