I want to create a Compact Flash Raid Array to boot Windows
2000 Pro using IDE/CF adaptors.  I've read that a Windows 2k install
takes anywhere from
500-1GB of space.  If I were to use 2 512MB CF cards and go with
Raid-0, this may be cutting it close in terms of free space.  My
questions are:  1) Has
anyone out there done something this?  2) How much free space can I
get away with?  3) Would it pay to go with Ultra CF cards, or does the
speed increase only apply to writing?  I would appreciate as much
detailed info as possible.  Thanks!

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Request for Question Clarification by lot-ga on 27 Nov 2002 17:16 PST

Hello
are you wanting to boot a standard PC with the CF (without hard drive)
a 1gb CF or the forth coming 3gb cards would be better I guess.
kind regards
lot-ga

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Clarification of Question by zombyw00f-ga on 27 Nov 2002 17:46 PST

Yes, I want to boot a standard PC from CF.  What would be the best
interface to use to get the highest performance?  Would it be worth
it?

If you feel one gig of space is not enough, it would be possible with
some raid cards to use up to 4 drives as one big raid 0, which could
give you two gigs of space with the appropriate adapters and cards.

I don't really give you advice on creating a CF array - rather, I'm
trying to dissuade you from doing it. So here goes nothing...

Although there are bootable CF cards, I would believe that there are
few that exist as bootable RAID 0 set. Although you could probably set
up an array with solid state disks using RAID software, I strongly
doubt it will be bootable unless it's a hardware RAID set.

You should also know that CF cards can be rather slow. As you
mentioned in your question, Ultra CF cards have a comparatively fast
transfer rate of 2.8 MB per second. This is ultra-slow (no pun
intended) when compared to hard disks, which use an ATA interface that
pumps data at more than 66 MB per second. Booting a system from a CF
card is like booting from a CD-ROM - it's painfully slow.

Finally, using CF adapters means using USB dongles. USB is limited to
12 Mbps, or 1.5 MBps. Unless you are using USB 2.0, purchasing Ultra
CF cards for their higher speed would be limited by the USB
bottleneck. And since you are using a RAID set, you would be plugging
2 CF adapters into one USB channel - both of the fighting over the
limited 12 Mbps of bandwidth.

My personal recommendation would be to buy a cheapo, old, used 2 GB
ATA/33 hard disk and use that as a boot drive. It would be ten times
as fast and you will save yourself a configuration nightmare.

Hope this helps !