creating a "broken" graid3 array?

[usleepless at gmail.com]

John,

On 11/23/06, John Nielsen <lists at jnielsen.net> wrote:
> Is it possible to create a (degraded) graid3 array with only two (or one
> less than the planned total) providers? I'm asking since I would like to
> move from my current one-disk setup to a three-disk raid3 array, but I'd
> like the disk currently in use to be a member of the array and I don't have
> anywhere to conveniently back up the data already there. I'd like to create
> a degraded graid3 array with the two new components, copy the data from the
> current disk to the array, and then add the current disk in to the array.
>
> If that's not a possibility, can anyone suggest a way to get the same end
> result?

while i know close to nothing about raid, here is what i think:

1. you have no backup ( otherwise you could pull it off )
2. you are trying to achieve your goal through a tricky method ( me
thinks anyways :-)

is the loss of your data worth less than the cost of an extra hd? if
so, buy another hd. if not, make a clean install?

and assuming a 3 hd raid setup, would it not be wise to have a spare hd anyway?

what's the point?

regards,

usleep