Windows 10: Any advantage in Hardware-level RAID 1 for full Drive Redundancy?

I need to catch up on Software-based RAID in Windows 10 version 2004, vs the older, but quite reliable, Chipset-supported BIOS-level RAID. The goal in this case [i happen to have 2 needs right now] is full "no nonsense" fail-over protection.
So the plan would be two matched drives, boot drives, on two SATA channels, completely identically mirrored. Sounds old-school doesn't it?

I have never attempted to do this with Windows-only, on a system that otherwise Does Not have "hardware level RAID capability". In the past I would look very hard for a desktop or small server that has an Intel chipset which unequivocally supports RAID function. [ example: Intel(R) Q270 Chipset Product Specifications ]
It is not easy to ferret out such details but the rewards are good. I personally use and have used for many years just such a setup. I can walk in there and pull the plug, so to speak, on either drive and the system will boot right up with no drama. Just a small message notification that one of the drives has an issue....

Have any of you gone this direction with Windows, and tested it to make certain the drives are "bit for bit" identical.
I would say that Macrium Reflect [one example; the devil I know] can accomplish almost the same thing in software, but one would have to have boot media at hand, and a fresh drive, upon which to restore the image, and it would not be real-time, and few regular humans can be trusted to maintain the constant backups necessary for a 'fresh' image, AND one would just pray that Macrium have no goofs like they have had in the past, and the drive not actually be bootable [ask me how I know].

your experience? advice? Can a 'pure windows' approach be trusted?

:)

 

What's the best solution for a reliable RAID 1 setup

If you are not too concerned about having the OS drive as part of the raid the storage spaces is the way to go.

I suggested this due to your previous drive failure.

If you setup RAID using the BIOS then windows update should never touch that, it’s almost at the hardware level and is completely OS independent.

Kind Regards,

Elise

 

Can I use a RAID 1 drive array as my Windows boot drive?

I am not going to use hardware RAID. I want to use Windows Storage Spaces to create the RAID 1 array from two identical hard drives.

Do I install Windows on the first hard drive then create the RAID array using Storage Spaces?

When I create the RAID array will Windows automatically mirror the Windows installation including the boot partition to the second drive so the RAID array is bootable?

Are their any steps unique to this setup that I must follow when installing Windows or creating the RAID array so that the RAID array will be bootable?

 

Raid 1 Drives disappeared in Win10

The links I gave include how to Recover the RAID, not just the data. You might want to ask at a hardware forums since it is a hardware issue, not Windows. Tom's Hardware is good:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/missing...

Other possible fixes:

https://www.dell.com/community/PowerEdge-HDD-SC...

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/56120...

https://community.cisco.com/t5/unified-computin...