Multiple RAID Setup on ASUS Rampage IV Extreme

RavenPanther · Sep 2, 2013

I'm getting ready to build a new rig, and after several weeks of reading through professional reviews and user reviews, I've narrowed my choice down to the Asus R4E.

I intend for my setup to be as follows:

2x Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB SSD, RAID 1 [Serving as a boot drive as well as program storage, for obvious reasons. Will be partitioned]
4x WD Velociraptor 500GB HDD, RAID 10 or 01 [Serving as storage. Will be partitioned]

I've recently been reading that the R4E offers 4x Sata 3GB/s ports, as well as 2x Sata 6GB/s ports. However everything I'm reading seems to lend to the notion that only the 3GB/s ports are RAID-compatible.

Is it, in any way, possible to have the SSD's run through the 6GB/s ports and still keep the RAID functionality with the VelociRaptors running through the 3GB/s ports? If not, I believe I'd rather keep the RAID functionality over sacrificing everything to stick with the same MB. So if that is the case, any suggestions?

Thanks!

USAFRet · Sep 2, 2013

2x Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB SSD, RAID 1 [Serving as a boot drive as well as program storage, for obvious reasons. Will be partitioned]

Why do you think this is necessary and what do you hope to achieve?

RavenPanther · Sep 2, 2013

USAFRet :

Sorry, I didn't explain what I'd be using this for.
I'll be doing medium- to heavy-duty rendering, 3D design in both 3DS Max as well as UDK/UT3, and graphics design with the Adobe CS6 suite. I need these to be able to be accessed fast, but I also need the security of the redundant drives.

Edit: I should also mention, I'm trying to future-proof this build as much as possible. That's one reason for the choice of the LGA2011 instead of the 1150/1155

USAFRet · Sep 2, 2013

RAID 1, as you propose, is great when you need always on capability. For instance if you were running a webstore, and a dead drive = lost sales.

RAID 1 is not a backup.
Any corrupt files, viruses, deletions, will be faithfully recreated on both drives.

For the Raptor HDD's in the background? Sure. Go for it. RAID 1 for the OS SSD's? Not so much.

Whatever you do, you will still need an actual backup.

RavenPanther · Sep 2, 2013

I understand that RAID 1 isn't a backup, just a redundancy to avoid access to a drive's data going offline in the event of it failing.

I specifically want the RAID 1 on the SSD's because I know they have a higher fail rate than HDD's. Though now that I think about it, I'm guessing that it's not as necessary to raid a boot drive as it would be to raid storage drives; I think that's what you were getting at?

USAFRet · Sep 2, 2013

I specifically want the RAID 1 on the SSD's because I know they have a higher fail rate than HDD's.

No, they don't.

Though now that I think about it, I'm guessing that it's not as necessary to raid a boot drive as it would be to raid storage drives; I think that's what you were getting at?

Right. The OS and applications can be easily recreated in a couple of hours. If this is not an always on, money generating server, where a drive fail = instant dollar loss...RAID 1 is generally not a good idea.

But even fr storage...a true 'backup' is needed, RAID or no RAID.

RavenPanther · Sep 2, 2013

SSD's don't have a higher fail rate? (Sorry if I sound ignorant; I haven't really looked into SSD technology for a few years since they became common in consumer use.)

And I understand about backing up, RAID or not. Do backups work differently if you back up, say, a RAID 10 setup of four HDD's to one non-RAID HDD? Would it be the same, in respect to restoration, as it would if you were just doing a non-RAID backup?

USAFRet · Sep 2, 2013

SSD's don't have a higher fail rate? (Sorry if I sound ignorant; I haven't really looked into SSD technology for a few years since they became common in consumer use.)

Potential lifespan of a current Samsung 840 256GB:
Writing mutiGB per day...lifespan measured in decades
http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4178/10/hardwareinfo-tests-lifespan-of-samsung-ssd-840-250gb-tlc-ssd-updated-with-final-conclusion-final-update-20-6-2013

And I understand about backing up, RAID or not. Do backups work differently if you back up, say, a RAID 10 setup of four HDD's to one non-RAID HDD? Would it be the same, in respect to restoration, as it would if you were just doing a non-RAID backup?

RAID or nonRAID...not much difference in the actual backup.
If the RAID array dies. you rebuild it and bring the critical files up from your backup.
If a drive in the array dies, you slave in a new one and hope the array does not care.

Either way...your backup files are offline until needed.

RavenPanther · Sep 2, 2013

USAFRet :

Wow. That is MUCH more stable than I last remember them being. Thanks for all your helpful answers. I won't select a solution just yet, incase someone has an answer to the original question (for purposes of other users searching for an answer) But if there's no answer in a reasonable amount of time, I'll select yours as the solution. Again, thank you, very helpful and informative :]

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