Changing Cluster Size

KingFishKingFish
edited June 2004 in Hardware
I have an NF7-S with the onboard Highpoint Raid controller. I have my two main disks set up with raid-0. I made a noninformed decision at the time and set my cluster size to 128k. After reading articles on raid I believe a cluster size of 32k would more suit my rig. Would changing cluster size nuke all the files/OS already present on the disks or can it be changed with the files remaining intact? Thanks

KingFish

Comments

  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    edited April 2004
    changing cluster size requires a reformat.
  • KingFishKingFish
    edited April 2004
    That's what I was afraid of, thanks.

    KingFish
  • MediaManMediaMan Powered by loose parts.
    edited April 2004
    I "think" you can use Partition Magic to change cluster size but I don't know if it will actually do the C:/ drive though.

    What I'd do is ghost your hard drive partitions ....back up your data...transfer all that to DVD-R...then reformat and ghost back from the DVD-R.
  • floppybootstompfloppybootstomp Greenwich New
    edited April 2004
    You can change cluster size non-destructively with paragon partition manager.

    Here's a link to a freebie I got off one of those magazine disks, version 5.0 Paragon

    Unzip the file, load all contents to a floppy, then boot with it. Should be fairly obvious once you're into the program how to do it.

    I've used this many times. It works well with FAT32 & NTFS.

    You can't change stripe size though, that needs a reformat.
  • KingFishKingFish
    edited April 2004
    I meant stripe size across my two disks in the raid-0 array. I'll hold off on making any drastic changes until my next scheduled major upgrade at the end of this summer. I'll likely back up my pertinent data and start with a fresh install of everything and use a stripe size of 32k with the new setup. Thanks for the help all.

    KingFish
  • GuyuteGuyute Gamehenge
    edited June 2004
    I just noticed my new 120GB drive has a "Allocation size: 4096 bytes". There is a drop-down menu that lets you select different volumes down to 512 bytes. If I change that, will the drive re-format? Does that mean that all of the games I have loaded on it wil be erased? 4096 seems a tad large...
  • paroxymparoxym Toronto, Canada
    edited June 2004
    Guyute wrote:
    I just noticed my new 120GB drive has a "Allocation size: 4096 bytes". There is a drop-down menu that lets you select different volumes down to 512 bytes. If I change that, will the drive re-format? Does that mean that all of the games I have loaded on it wil be erased? 4096 seems a tad large...

    4096 is actually a cluster size of 4KB and is the default your NTFS drive is formatted with when you install Windows. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but there is no problem with this allocation size and your best to leave it as is.
  • KingFishKingFish
    edited June 2004
    It is the standard size. I'd leave it as is. :)

    KF
  • GuyuteGuyute Gamehenge
    edited June 2004
    Thanks...at 1:00 AM I interpreted that as 4MB- too late in the day to be friggin with my PC, I think. hmmmm..basic math skills, where are youuuuuuuuuuuu LOL.

    Man, this forum is awesome.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited June 2004
    Guyute wrote:
    Thanks...at 1:00 AM I interpreted that as 4MB- too late in the day to be friggin with my PC, I think. hmmmm..basic math skills, where are youuuuuuuuuuuu LOL.

    Man, this forum is awesome.
    You could still change it if you wished to. Though like the other nice fella's have said (;)), you really wouldn't want to. The latest version of Partition Magic I believe can change the cluster size non-destructively on any partition, including Drive C, as well as Paragon Disk Manager. They should be able to change it from 512b up to as large as 64K.

    But like folk have said. 4K is optimal for your setup.

    Cheers
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    KingFish wrote:
    I meant stripe size across my two disks in the raid-0 array. I'll hold off on making any drastic changes until my next scheduled major upgrade at the end of this summer. I'll likely back up my pertinent data and start with a fresh install of everything and use a stripe size of 32k with the new setup. Thanks for the help all.

    KingFish

    To change stripe size you WILL LOOSE EVERYTHING. If it was just cluster size, Partition Magic works great. I use it every time I reformat an array.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited June 2004
    mtgoat wrote:
    To change stripe size you WILL LOOSE EVERYTHING. If it was just cluster size, Partition Magic works great. I use it every time I reformat an array.
    Now wouldn't it be great if someone manufactured a RAID controller that could change the stripe size on the fly. That would be great. That would something. That would be... (drum roll) Splendid!

    /me goes to grab another whisky
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    Spinner wrote:
    Now wouldn't it be great if someone manufactured a RAID controller that could change the stripe size on the fly. That would be great. That would something. That would be... (drum roll) Splendid!

    * Spinner goes to grab another whisky
    You mean?

    Magnifique

    Ducky

    A stick in the pants

    Or just plain....."the sheeeetz"
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited June 2004
    mtgoat wrote:
    You mean?

    Magnifique

    Ducky

    A stick in the pants

    Or just plain....."the sheeeetz"
    Don't say stuff like that when I'm this hammered. ROFL ;D. But yeah... all of the above. ;D
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