Raid 1 & Disk Partitioning Question

I’ve spent a couple hours searching the net for an answer, but I am not finding anything definitive.

I am getting a new test server, which will be used to beta test website and apps, as well as operate as a backup mail server. This server will come with RAID 1, using two 250 gig drives and loaded with Windows Server 2008 Web Edition. The Raid controller is hardware based - 3Ware - but I don’t recall the exact model at this time.

My question has to do with drive partitioning. I am old school, and hate having sites and data on the same partition as my OS (I like the ability to reload the OS without losing any data). My usuall setup is a smaller C Drive for the OS & programs, and a larger D drive for data.

If I partition the primary drive into 2 smaller drives, will the controller mirror that onto the secondary drive? Is it all transparent, or is it usually more complicated than that with a hardware Raid controller?

Being a test server, I could simply experiment till I get it - but if anyone has any tips they would be greatly appreciated.

If this is hardware raid, the system should see only 1 disk. You partition it just like you would any other hard disk. The controller will make it transparent.

Now, I’ve seen some “RAID” type offerings which are not actually raid but some type of mirroring/recovery tool. I am speaking about true RAID offerings only.

Thanks for the response. This is a true RAID system. It’s a 3Ware hardware controller (still don’t know the full model number) controlling 2 x 250 gig drives. I know I will only see one physical drive, I was most concerned about the transparency. If it’s that easy - great!