difference between RAID and non-RAID

[munkytown]

could someone tell me the difference between RAID and non-RAID? i've been looking for a PCI card to add some IDE drives to my pc and am now wondering if i need to be concerned with the RAID vs. non-RAID depending on what drives i want to add (HDD's and optical). thanks.

[jerryheavyarms]

This is RAID. Is this what you would want to know? You can add another hard disk to your computer and not use RAID as this will only add another drive to it..

[munkytown]

wow thats alot of info, lol. but i'm still unsure. i know i need a PCI card to add some IDE hard drives and an IDE CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive to my computer. it has a SATA drive as the C drive and there is no place on the motherboard to add any IDE drives, only SATA drives. hence the reason i need to add the PCI card.

[jerryheavyarms]

Oh, in that case you would surely need that card. Or you may want to consider buying an external closure for hard disk that can accomodate IDE drives..

[munkytown]

i definitely want to try the card. but i wasn't sure why i saw 2 cards online that seemed to be exactly the same except one said "non-RAID." i didn't know what the difference was, if any. and i already have one IDE hard drive in an external enclosure which i connect via firewire. and my CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive in an external connected via usb. they both work but i have at least 2 other IDE hard drives that i would prefer to install in my tower along with the combo drive rather than purchase more external enclosures, spending that much more money and taking up more space on my desk, not to mention i don't know if i'm going to have enough available usb ports for those and any other usb devices i need to use. i know if they do work with the PCI card that they still wont be as fast as SATA or even firewire but im more concerned with cost and desk space.