You can use a RAID drive array, or you can use Adobe Acrobat 7.0. But it appears that the Acrobat product activation scheme is going to try to make it hard for you to do both.

"I purchased Adobe Acrobat Pro 7 last month," a reader recently wrote. "Several times since installing the software I am prompted to reactivate the product. After three successful Internet activations, I was directed to call Adobe. The person who answered the call accused me of installing the product on several PCs. I assured him that I had not done so. After reviewing my PC configuration he told me that activation does not work on RAID disk arrays. I had to install a non-RAID drive to allow Acrobat to activate properly."

Try as he might, the reader couldn't find anyone at Adobe who would offer a better solution. "I was forwarded to tech support who determined there was no workaround for this problem," the reader wrote. "Tech support's only suggestion was to purchase a volume license disk, since it does not have the activation 'feature.' They forwarded me to sales. The sales department would sell me a volume license CD, but I would have to pay a full volume license fee even though I only want one working copy. I asked for a supervisor and, after discussing the problem, he stated that I was not the first person to have this issue. He escalated the issue to 'upper management.' Two days later I was informed there was no solution for this issue. How frustrating."

Indeed. It would also appear that the RAID array problem is one Adobe could have anticipated from its previous experience with product activation in Photoshop CS. An Adobe support page on "Troubleshooting Activation Errors for Photoshop" notes that one may be required to ...

"Reinstall Photoshop on a single hard disk.
Running Photoshop on a RAID array may cause activation problems. Although RAID levels can be configured to perform as expected with Windows installed, Photoshop activation requires a level of data integrity that the RAID software or configuration may not deliver. If you installed Photoshop on a RAID array and Photoshop returns activation errors, reinstall and activate Photoshop on a single hard disk, on which Windows is installed, that is separate from the disk array."

The reader finally demanded a refund for what he'd paid for Acrobat 7, and Adobe told him he should have it ... after 60 days of processing. But it still bothers him that he would be treated like a thief because of the storage technology he uses. "My frustration with the whole process was with their confidence that their activation process is such that the 'Activation Center' assumes the software is being installed on several machines," he wrote. "I believe Adobe should do the following: 1. Place a note or warning on the order page concerning using RAID with their products. If such existed I would not have purchased the product. 2. Inform the Activation Center staff that they should ask if the product is installed on a RAID drive set and, if so, not ACCUSE the caller of multiple installations of the product. 3. Provide a workaround for users such as myself. More and more motherboards have embedded RAID controllers, so this activation issue is not going to go away. I am very disappointed that the only workaround Adobe can currently offer is to install on a non-RAID hard drive."

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