SSD and HDD in RAID 1 type setup

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ralphmichael17

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Oct 26, 2013
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To start off, here is all the specs on my rig

Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower
PSU: Corsair CX750
MOBO: ASUS P8H77-V LE
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro H100i Liquid
RAM: 4x4GB G.SKILL Sniper 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600
GPU: EVGA NVIDIA GTX 660Ti 2GB
GPU Cooler: ARTIC Accelero Hybrid Liquid
HDD/SDD: 500GB HDD WD5000AAKX
320GB HDD WD3200AAKX
120GB SSD Mushkin Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB
(Currently using 64GB Intel RST)
Optical: ASUS Blu-Ray Burner
ASUS 24x DVD Burner

I currently use the 120GB SSD as a 64GB Cache to the 500GB HDD using Intel RST, and performance is absolutely outstanding.

I would like to switch to using just a 240GB SSD without caching because I never seem to use more than 160GB on my main drive, and use the 500GB HD as a secondary for libraries. Ultimately I want to take the 120GB SSD and put it in my terribly slow laptop.

I love the speed of SSD's, but unfortunatly I don't completely trust them unconditionally when it comes to redundancy or possible errors, therefor I would like to mirror the 240GB SSD with my 320GB HDD, that way I will always have some sort of back up of the disk just in case.

I don't know tons about SSD's including i don't understand TRIM support and if the stuff I have supports it, whether raid affects it, but I know I want it.

Even if it isn't RAID 1, and instead some other solution I am okay with that, I just want my SSD to always have a recent within the hour back up. I do not want to read from the HDD but only write, having it synchronizing to the SSD as changes are made ( I am aware that the HDD does not write as fast so it would never be truly synchronized). I also do not want to do scheduled backups with a software that is going rewrite over a backup image over and over again, but instead just adding/modifying/deleting files as needed.

I plan on buying the Crucial M500 240GB

Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
 
Solution
USAFRet
1. You really don't want to RAID an SSD and HDD. You're limited to the speed of the slowest, with the size of the smallest.

2. As for the 'within the hour backup', how much new or changed stuff do you write every hour?

3. There are a couple of file/folder syncing applications that may fit the bill.
FreeFileSync has a function within called RealTimeSync. You designate a source folder to watch, and a target...and as changes are written to the source, it also copies that to the target. You can write in one or either direction.

Also, look at SyncToy from MS.

Here is a comparison of the two:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/is-freefilesync-better-sync-software-than-microsoft-synctoy-windows/
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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1. You really don't want to RAID an SSD and HDD. You're limited to the speed of the slowest, with the size of the smallest.

2. As for the 'within the hour backup', how much new or changed stuff do you write every hour?

3. There are a couple of file/folder syncing applications that may fit the bill.
FreeFileSync has a function within called RealTimeSync. You designate a source folder to watch, and a target...and as changes are written to the source, it also copies that to the target. You can write in one or either direction.

Also, look at SyncToy from MS.

Here is a comparison of the two:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/is-freefilesync-better-sync-software-than-microsoft-synctoy-windows/
 
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ralphmichael17

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Oct 26, 2013
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I figured that RAID 1 would throttle SSD performance with a HDD, unfortunatly I do not want to pay for an SSD as a back up device. I currently use allway sync to sync important files across all my computers, but I suppose if I used a file sync software like the aboved mentioned, and just had it sync from the root of the SSD, will it sync absolutely everything, hidden or normally unaccessable? I would like to have a back up HDD so that if there was an SSD problem, I would be able to plug directly into my HDD and run the OS without reinstall (or transfer to another SSD). It honestly is hard to say how often I modify files, I know there are OS files constantly changed, but it depends on the day, just by saying with in the hour is a good safe zone knowing that I won't ever lose a whole days work.

 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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I'm not sure any of the file sync tools would work well for syncing the whole OS. I've never tried it though.

But sync your important files/folders, and maybe once a week or two create a clone of the full boot drive.
In case of drive fail, boot from that and bring up your critical files from the sync locations.
 
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msroadkill612

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no solution but i wondeded the same

i distrust blithe assurances re duced to slowest drive

my app is a reduntant proxy server drive for a mini wifi isp

i suspect its app dependent a bit

in my case, the hard work is still done by the primary ssd - not much done by hdd

raid 1 is totally automated - no restore needed - just a new drive & an auto rebuild - no down time~ or hassle



 
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msroadkill612

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PS re my above post & app

transfer smansfer - its about access times

cache is mainly zillions of small files, rarely changed

it may run slow during outage of ssd, & hence using hdd - but it would run

assumiong primary ssd acessed first, still see major benefits

if so, i dont see hdd dragging the ssd down much in my app & many others
 
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msroadkill612

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ucs75

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