Relocating RAID 1 Volume: Minor Success for Posterity

A month or so ago I picked up Windows Home Server 2011 for $45. :) My plan was to repurpose my old Core 2 Duo E6400 system to be my new home server (and of course the loss of such a fine system from the network necessitates a new PC which I'll get to in the next few months).

Part of the migration was to take my RAID 1 volume consisting of (2) Western Digital 2TB 5400rpm drives from my X58-based system and install it in the old system. I've read where RAIDs will transer over if they're the same chipset (or same add-in RAID controller which I'm too poor to afford), but I wasn't sure if mine would transfer without a total rebuild. Both motherboards use similar chipsets -- the MSI X58 Pro uses the ICH10R while the old Abit AB9 Pro uses the ICH8R. I calculated the probabilities, crossed my fingers, yanked the drives out and put them in the old PC.....and it worked without me doing a thing. :) I didn't touch the BIOS, I didn't get into the RAID utility. It just worked off the bat.

I guess the bottom line in terms of moving a RAID volume created with onboard RAID is that it will transfer over to another PC as long as the chipsets are either identical or similar.

Hope this helps someone.....