Do I have a RAID implementation?
Which tools (especially Windows 2000) can I use to see if a RAID is implemented on a server?

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On Microsoft Windows 2000 Server (I am assuming that you are using the server release of Microsoft Windows 2000, not the workstation release) there are a variety of tools available to check if you are using a RAID implementation. The first place to look is in the Device Manager on the system: Right-click on "My Computer" and select "Manage." When the "Computer Manager" comes up, select "Device Manager>" Within the Device Manager is a section for "SCSI and RAID Controllers," as can be seen in the graphic below.

Note, in the graphic above there are no RAID controllers on the system. Check in this area to see if there is any devices (drivers) installed for a RAID controller.

If there are no RAID controllers installed, then you don't have a hardware RAID implementation. Next, check if the system is running a software RAID product, such as Veritas Volume Manager, by checking in installed products for Veritas Volume Manager. This software package is a software-based RAID product and is also part of Veritas' Storage Foundation Suite for Windows. There are some other implementations of RAID systems on Microsoft Windows 2000, but these are the basics that will help you ferret out what is installed.

This was first published in October 2004