4. RAID System¶
The following manual explains how to create a RAID disk system, both on Windows and Ubuntu Operating Systems.
A RAID system combines multiple disks to function as a single unit, increasing security through redundant copies, or performance (faster read/write).
Windows 10/11¶
Steps¶
- PowerShell as Administrator
- To create the virtual disks, we need to use the Windows "DISKPART" tool
# Create 3 VHDs
diskpart # To access the tool
DISKPART> create vdisk file="C:\RAIDDisks\Disk1.vhd" maximum=10000 type=expandable # Disk1
DISKPART> create vdisk file="C:\RAIDDisks\Disk2.vhd" maximum=10000 type=expandable # Disk2
DISKPART> create vdisk file="C:\RAIDDisks\Disk3.vhd" maximum=10000 type=expandable # Disk3
# Mount the disks
DISKPART> select vdisk file="C:\RAIDDisks\Disk1.vhd"
DISKPART> attach vdisk
DISKPART> select vdisk file="C:\RAIDDisks\Disk2.vhd"
DISKPART> attach vdisk
DISKPART> select vdisk file="C:\RAIDDisks\Disk3.vhd"
DISKPART> attach vdisk
DISKPART> exit # To exit DISKPART
- Verify that the actions have been completed correctly.
# Verify disk existence
Get-Disk | Format-Table Number, FriendlyName, Size, PartitionStyle -AutoSize
# Three virtual disks similar to the following output should appear:
---
Number FriendlyName Size PartitionStyle
------ ------------ ---- --------------
1 Msft Virtual Disk 10485760000 RAW
2 Msft Virtual Disk 10485760000 RAW
3 Msft Virtual Disk 10485760000 RAW
0 Red Hat VirtIO 171798691840 GPT
---
Create the storage space:
- Win + S -> Control Panel -> System and Security -> Storage Spaces
- Create a new pool and storage space.
- Select the disks you want to use -> Create Pool
-
Resiliency type = Two-way mirror
Size = 9GB
- Create storage space.
- Verify that the unit we just created appears in the file system.
To Automate Processes¶
You can create scripts (.bat) so that every time the desktop starts, the disks are mounted.
-
The first script will have the mounting function, with the commands we used previously to mount them manually. To do this, you can create a blank file and copy the following instructions.
It will be saved with the name: "2_mount_raid_disks.bat"
@echo off
REM ========================================
REM MOUNT RAID VIRTUAL DISKS
REM ========================================
REM Verify administrator privileges
net session >nul 2>&1
if %errorLevel% neq 0 (
exit /b 1
)
REM Wait 5 seconds for the system to be ready
timeout /t 5 /nobreak >nul
REM Mount the three disks
(
echo select vdisk file="C:\RAIDDisks\Disk1.vhd"
echo attach vdisk
echo select vdisk file="C:\RAIDDisks\Disk2.vhd"
echo attach vdisk
echo select vdisk file="C:\RAIDDisks\Disk3.vhd"
echo attach vdisk
) | diskpart >nul 2>&1
exit /b 0
-
The second script will create a task that runs every time Windows starts
To do this, you can create a blank file and copy the following instructions. Once done, save it with the ".bat" extension and run it in Administrator mode.
@echo off
echo ========================================
echo CONFIGURE AUTOMATIC MOUNTING
echo ========================================
echo.
REM Verify administrator privileges
net session >nul 2>&1
if %errorLevel% neq 0 (
echo ERROR: This script requires administrator privileges
pause
exit /b 1
)
REM Get the current path of the mounting script
set "SCRIPT_SETUP=%~dp02_mount_raid_disks.bat"
echo Automatic mounting will be configured using:
echo %SCRIPT_SETUP%
echo.
REM Create scheduled task at Windows startup
schtasks /create /tn "MountRAIDDisks" /tr "\"%SCRIPT_SETUP%\"" /sc onstart /ru SYSTEM /rl HIGHEST /f
if %errorLevel% equ 0 (
echo.
echo ========================================
echo CONFIGURATION COMPLETED
echo ========================================
echo.
echo Virtual disks will be mounted automatically
echo every time Windows starts.
echo.
echo To verify: Run "taskschd.msc" and search for "MountRAIDDisks"
) else (
echo ERROR: Could not create scheduled task
)
echo.
pause
At this point you can restart the desktop and you will be able to see the disks mounted correctly from startup.
- Explanation:
The 1st script stores the instructions to mount the disks.
The 2nd script first checks that it has been run in administrator mode.
Once verified, it calls the 1st script to do the mounting and assigns it the name "SCRIPT_SETUP". From here, it creates a task that starts with the desktop startup and calls this script.
The created task can be seen by running "taskschd.msc" and searching for "MountRAIDDisks".
Ubuntu¶
Steps¶
Through terminal:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y mdadm
sudo lsblk
---
# vda 252:0 0 100G 0 disk
# ├─vda1 252:1 0 1M 0 part
# ├─vda2 252:2 0 513M 0 part /boot/efi
# └─vda3 252:3 0 79,5G 0 part /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell
# /
---
By entering the system's disk manager we can check it.
sudo fdisk /dev/vda # This can be replaced by doing it directly from GParted, just create 2 partitions of 1G (1024 MiB)
---
# n (new partition Disk1)
# Enter
# Enter
# +1G
# n (Disk2)
# Enter
# Enter
# +1G
# w
---
sudo lsblk # Check that the action has been performed correctly
---
# vda 252:0 0 100G 0 disk
# ├─vda1 252:1 0 1M 0 part
# ├─vda2 252:2 0 513M 0 part /boot/efi
# ├─vda3 252:3 0 79,5G 0 part /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell
# │ /
# ├─vda4 252:4 0 1G 0 part
# └─vda5 252:5 0 1G 0 part
---
sudo wipefs -a /dev/vda4 /dev/vda5
sudo mdadm --create /dev/md0 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 /dev/vda4 /dev/vda5
---
# yes
---
sudo lsblk
---
# vda 252:0 0 100G 0 disk
# ├─vda1 252:1 0 1M 0 part
# ├─vda2 252:2 0 513M 0 part /boot/efi
# ├─vda3 252:3 0 79,5G 0 part /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell
# │ /
# ├─vda4 252:4 0 1G 0 part
# │ └─md0 9:0 0 1022M 0 raid1
# └─vda5 252:5 0 1G 0 part
# └─md0 9:0 0 1022M 0 raid1
---
sudo mdadm --detail /dev/md0
---
# /dev/md127:
# Version : 1.2
# Creation Time : Wed Nov 12 13:51:17 2025
# Raid Level : raid1
# Array Size : 1046528 (1022.00 MiB 1071.64 MB)
# Used Dev Size : 1046528 (1022.00 MiB 1071.64 MB)
# Raid Devices : 2
# Total Devices : 2
# Persistence : Superblock is persistent
#
# Update Time : Wed Nov 12 13:51:31 2025
# State : clean
# Active Devices : 2
# Working Devices : 2
# Failed Devices : 0
# Spare Devices : 0
#
# Consistency Policy : resync
#
# Name : ubuntu:0 (local to host ubuntu)
# UUID : 4afe7442:2f7b8bd2:b42d29cd:78ac0321
# Events : 17
#
# Number Major Minor RaidDevice State
# 0 252 4 0 active sync /dev/vda4
# 1 252 5 1 active sync /dev/vda5
---
echo "DEVICE partitions" | sudo tee /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf >/dev/null
sudo mdadm --detail --scan | sudo tee -a /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf >/dev/null
sudo update-initramfs -u
Tests to verify proper operation:¶
# to test
sudo apt install -y xfsprogs # Tool used to manage file systems
sudo mkfs.xfs -f /dev/md0
---
# meta-data=/dev/md0 isize=512 agcount=4, agsize=65408 blks
# = sectsz=512 attr=2, projid32bit=1
# = crc=1 finobt=1, sparse=1, rmapbt=0
# = reflink=1 bigtime=0 inobtcount=0
# data = bsize=4096 blocks=261632, imaxpct=25
# = sunit=0 swidth=0 blks
# naming =version 2 bsize=4096 ascii-ci=0, ftype=1
# log =internal log bsize=4096 blocks=1566, version=2
# = sectsz=512 sunit=0 blks, lazy-count=1
# realtime =none extsz=4096 blocks=0, rtextents=0
# Discarding blocks...Done.
---
sudo mount -t xfs -o defaults,noatime,nodiratime /dev/md0 /mnt
sudo lsblk
---
# vda 252:0 0 100G 0 disk
# ├─vda1 252:1 0 1M 0 part
# ├─vda2 252:2 0 513M 0 part /boot/efi
# ├─vda3 252:3 0 79,5G 0 part /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell
# │ /
# ├─vda4 252:4 0 1G 0 part
# │ └─md0 9:127 0 1022M 0 raid1 /mnt
# └─vda5 252:5 0 1G 0 part
# └─md0 9:127 0 1022M 0 raid1 /mnt
---
df -hT /mnt
---
# Filesystem Type Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
# /dev/md0 xfs 1016M 40M 977M 4% /mnt
---
sudo umount /mnt
sudo lsblk
---
# vda 252:0 0 100G 0 disk
# ├─vda1 252:1 0 1M 0 part
# ├─vda2 252:2 0 513M 0 part /boot/efi
# ├─vda3 252:3 0 79,5G 0 part /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell
# │ /
# ├─vda4 252:4 0 1G 0 part
# │ └─md0 9:127 0 1022M 0 raid1
# └─vda5 252:5 0 1G 0 part
# └─md0 9:127 0 1022M 0 raid1
---
# end test