After a bit of a mistake purchase of a NAS unit which we were going to use as our Myriad file server (turned out to be very latent and caused various glitches when more than one Myriad workstation was connected) we have gone down the route of a computer based server solution instead.

We've been donated a computer which we intend to use as the file server for Myriad. It's a fairly decent spec and was previously used as a server at its former home (although they didn't have RAID setup). The 'server' has XP SP3 installed on it and we'll be buying a PCI RAID controller to install the two Hard Disks which contain all our audio and Myriad files.

Couple of questions if you can help;

Is it possible to Install the 2 Hard Disks which already contain data as RAID 1 on this computer (server) without losing the data on the drives or will creating the RAID erase the disks? (I would make a backup beforehand anyway just in case!)?

What is the best solution to backing up the back up (so to speak)? Is it worthwhile to have an off-site backup copy of the data in the RAID, and if so what is the best way to go about this? USB Hard drive? Also what software do you use to maintain this backup (Incremental would be the best solution I would think)?

Lastly, is it worth buying a server Operating System and install that on the computer instead of Windows XP? Obviously cost comes into play on that idea but would still like to know what you think about it.

Eventually we will be purchasing a proper server but to start with the computer will have to do.

Many thanks for your advice

Adam

Seaside Hospital Radio