software raid

[dave]

Hello,
    Got a 5.1 machine i'm going to do a reinstall on. I'd like to implement
software raid on it at least until i can get a promise IDE raid card, which
ones have user's had best successes with? My question pertaining to software
raid is is it possible to set it up during the install or do i have to do
the install normally then initiate raid? And which would be better, ccd or
vinum?
Thanks.
Dave.