How to set up a RAID configuration on G4 dual 1 G - with Tiger

I am a new Mac user. Just got a Power mac G4 dual 1G used with 4 internal hard drives. The previous owner had cleaned the Hard drives and told me that I need to set up a RAID configuration to use all hard drives. Can anybody tell me how to do that. I am using OS X Tiger version 10.4.



Thank you

You don't HAVE to set up a RAID config... only if you want to. And if you do, you need to decide if you want to do a RAID stripe or RAID mirror, or both since you have 4 drives.

That said, you do this with Disk Utility. Run that, select a disk (not a partition), and then the RAID tab. You'll then have to drag and drop the disks you want to make a RAID disk from into a box at the bottom, pick the type of RAID array you want, and label it.

If you have OS X already installed to a partition, then you can't select that disk as part of a RAID array, IIRC. You'd have to boot from the install DVD and run Disk Utility from there, and probably have to reinstall OS X also when done (setting up a RAID array should wipe all data off the disks, IIRC).

Just be VERY sure of what you are doing, and have a backup of any important files in a safe location before doing anything.

Thanks for the info. Probably the best way now is not to do it since I'm new to Mac and OS X. The guy that sold me the computer told that it was a good idea to do this because I want to use the computer for music production and video editing. Now i'm not sure if will make any difference. Thanks.

Oh it will make a very noticeable difference, and I would definitely do it if you plan to do a lot of that type of work. If you do RAID striping, you are basically spreading your data out over 2 or more drives. By doing so, you have 2 or more drives reading/writing the data, which is far faster than 1 drive by itself.

I have a pair of drives set as a RAID stripe for my system, and the overall system performance is far snappier than it was before I did this. There is one downside to this though... you can't use Boot Camp to install a Windows partition on that or any other drive. I actually had to install Leopard on a 3rd drive that was not in my RAID array and boot from that to be able to install Windows via Boot Camp. And you cannot install Windows onto an existing OS X RAID array. You'll need to consider that if you plan to use Windows still.

I don't plan to use Windows on my Mac because I still have my HP laptop that works well. But I would like to install OS 9 and run some old programs if it is possible. But probably I would have to use a HD out of the RAID array correct? Thanks for your insight, I really appreciate.

Ah... well you "probably" don't have to install OS 9 on a separate drive. In fact, you shouldn't ever have to boot into it. When you install OS X, you have the option to install "Classic" compatibility. Basically, if you try to run an OS 9 or earlier application, OS X will invisibly and seamlessly launch OS 9 and then let it run the program. I don't know for certain Classic will work off a RAID array... OS 9 was before my time and I have limited experience with Classic. Most likely, you may not be able to boot into OS 9, but you may be able to use Classic environment since OS X is already running the show, so to speak.