How to mount a RAID 1 or mirror from Windows

What is RAID 1?

Sometimes Our data is worth more than having to make backup copies constantly. It is also possible that losing data for a few minutes crucial and it becomes a great loss. One solution for this would be to have a RAID 1 file systemwhere the storage of data it's made of redundant form in several units. You can ride your own RAID 1 system or Mirror Storage we are going to teach you how to do it in this tutorial.

This is a file system that allows redundant copy in two or more units. With this system it is achieved great data protection As it consists of duplicating the data exactly the same on several units, the data are transferred to all discs that form this storage system. The mirror system allows the capacity and speed of 1 disk with 2 or more drivesbut offers a solid protection against the stored data.

One of the drawbacks is that no matter how many disks we add to the system, only we will have the maximum capacity of the smallest of all. This allows you to add SSD or HDD of different capacities, but the larger ones will be wasted. In this case it would be ideal to mount your RAID system with drives from the same capacity.

As advantagethis type of RAID can read data from two or more disks simultaneously, offering a higher performance when reading the data. For this, the disks need to have independent controller, one for each disk. It also offers the advantage that, if one fails, the system can continue to operate without interruption while replacing the failed hard drive.

If you have two or more disks and you want protect your data with a level extracan mount your own RAID 1 on Windows. Many HDDs and SSDs allow this file system, but from Windows You can configure it with a few simple stepswe teach you how.

Configure your disks with RAID 1 in Windows

In order to set up your own mirrored RAID system, it will be necessary to have with at least two disks. Although it is possible to mount it with external drives, for this you would need a special casing or a NAS system Like the ones of QNAP. We will focus on counting how to do it with two internal disks already installed on our computer.

Ideally, the disks are all the same sizealthough it is possible to do it with different size discs. He major always has to be the one with the least capacitysince the rest of the disks will adapt to the information it has, performing a exact copy of its contentwhich is why it is also called RAID mirror.

To add reflection (that's what he calls it Windows), we must have one of the disks with an already created partition, this may or may not contain data. Furthermore, we need a second album of equal or greater capacity without any type of partition assigned. In Windows it is not possible to add more volumes to the reflectionbeing a system with only two disks.

Let's see how to do it in Windows 11 with a few simple steps.

1. We open the disk manager, to get here we have several options:

   1. We can search Disk management in the search box Windowsthe option will appear Create and manage hard drive partitions. We select it to enter disk management.

      

   2. We can also click with the secondary mouse button on This team, then in More options and then in Manage. A little further down we will have the Disk Manager.

      

   3. We can also right click on the start button. The option to Disk management.

      

2. Once in the disk manager, we right click in the partition of the main disk from which we want to create the mirror system. The option will appear add reflectionwe select this option.

   

3. Next we will have to click on the disk where we want to have the data redundantly. We select it and click on the button Add reflection.
4. Windows tells us that the disks will become dynamic, this will not allow any operating system to be installed on the created volume. We click Yeah.

   

5. Once finished it will appear volumes that belong to the RAID marked in red and it will start synchronizing the data. This is transferring all the data that was contained in the new mirrored volume.

   

6. The system will boot when the sync reaches 100% The created file system will now be operational and you will be able to start transferring data on that drive. We will only see one unit, the system will be responsible for redundantly storing the data on the other volume that we have assigned.

   

In our case, we have used a 1 TB disk to mirror a 500 GB disk. Since the main one is smaller than the other volume, Windows has left the remaining space unallocated. We can even use this remaining space to create a new partition and thus be able to save data in it. This new partition is also you can use to create a RAID file system.

Secure your data with a disk RAID

If you're looking for a way to automatically keep your data safe, a mirrored file system is an ideal solution. You do not need anything else, neither compatible discs nor special systemssimply configure the software to have your own RAID file system to keep all the data you add to that volume safe.

As we have seen, it is not necessary for both are emptyyou can start mounting your mirror file system from one that already contains data. If you have a disk whose content you want to secure, you can take advantage of this system to automatically mirror the data.

When you finish creating the system, Windows The task will begin until synchronization is completed on the other assigned volume. Once the synchronization is complete, everything you add will be redundant to keep your files safer. It is always advisable have a backup of data when dealing with disk partitions or volumes, as a failure can leave you without data.

go to our price comparator or look for two SSD, SATA or M.2 drives depending on the availability of your PC, in the Amazon daily deals. Take the opportunity to set up your own RAID system, you can have it ready in a few minutes by following these simple steps.

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