Storage Config & Hardware Suggestions

JdotH · Mar 20, 2015

Hello All

Im looking for storage hardware and configuration advice. Here's what I got going on:

250GB SSD (Win7 OS drive) on 1x Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s port (gray).
500GB VelociRaptor RAID 1 mirror using 2x SATA 3Gb/s ports (blue) on the same Intel Chipset.
Asus P8P67 Evo Motherboard:
Intel® P67(B3) chipset:
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray
4 x SATA 3Gb/s port(s), blue
Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
Marvell® PCIe 9120 controller:
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), navy blue
Support Raid 0,1 (I think)

The VRaptor RAID 1 filled up so now I'm looking to reconfigure my storage. I want 1TB+ storage in Raid 1 or Raid 10 (4 drive min). RAID 10 being faster I hear. Not sure what I should buy and don't have to integrate my VRaptor RAID 1.

Configuration Options:
RAID 10
$246____1TB = Using current VRaptors + 2x 500GB VRaptor @$123/drive........only 1TB

RAID 10 + RAID 1
$176____1.5TB = RAID 10 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 4x 500GB Seagate ST500DM001 @$44/drive...Seagate any good?
$204____2.5TB = RAID 10 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 4x 1TB Seagate ST1000DM001 @$51/drive...Seagate any good?
*$280___2.5TB = RAID 10 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 4x 1TB WD Caviar Black @$70/drive
$308____4.5TB = RAID 10 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 4x 2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 @$77/drive...Seagate any good?
$356____6.5TB = RAID 10 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 4x 3TB Seagate ST3000DM001 @$89/drive...Seagate any good?
$500 :ouch:

__4.5TB = RAID 10 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 4x 2TB WD Caviar Black @$125/drive
RAID 1 + RAID 1
$102____1.5TB = RAID 1 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 2x 1TB Seagate ST1000DM001 @$51/drive...Seagate any good?
$140____1.5TB = RAID 1 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 2x 1TB WD Caviar Black @$70/drive
$154____2.5TB = RAID 1 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 2x 2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 @$77/drive...Seagate any good?
$178____3.5TB = RAID 1 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 2x 3TB Seagate ST3000DM001 @$89/drive...Seagate any good?
*$250___2.5TB = RAID 1 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 2x 2TB WD Caviar Black @$125/drive
SINGLE DRIVE + RAID 1 *not having additional redundancy here scares me tho
$70_____1.5TB = Single Drive + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 1x 1TB WD Caviar Black @$70/drive
$125____2.5TB = Single Drive + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 1x 2TB WD Caviar Black @$125/drive
$205____4.5TB = Single Drive + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 1x 4TB WD Caviar Black @$205/drive
ExternalHard Drive...possibly slow but at least its portable
$270____2.5TB = WD My Book Duo 4TB (2TB in RAID 1_USB 3.0) + current VRaptor RAID 1

What should I get and how should I set it up?

Is WD Caviar Black the best (reliable & fast) drive to get?...those Seagate drives are cheap.
Heard the fastest Caviar Blacks are the WD2003FZEX and close in speed & sound to my older VRaptors@150MB/s. What about HITACHI drives?!

Can I configure two different RAIDs on the same Intel P67 chipset?
Examples:
RAID 1 + RAID 1 all on 4 x SATA 3Gb/s ports, blue?
RAID 1 + RAID 1 on 2 x SATA 3Gb/s ports, blue + 2 SATA 6Gb/s ports, gray?
RAID 10 + RAID 1 on 4 x SATA 3Gb/s ports, blue + 2 x SATA 3Gb/s ports, gray?

If the SSD (Win7 OS) moves from the Intel P67 to the Marvel controller does the SSD get reformatted or anything? :??:

Example: If I use a RAID 10 + current VRaptor RAID 1 on the Intel P67 chipset all 6 Intel ports would be full and the SSD would need to move to the Marvel. Heck, maybe the Marvel holds the VRaptor RAID 1....hmmmmm.

I don't know how fast or reliable those Seagate drives are so here are my current 2 favorite-ish options:

1)$280____2.5TB = RAID 10 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 4x 1TB WD Caviar Black @$70/drive
Intel P67 Chipset
2 x SATA 6Gb/s ports---->Keep current SSD (Win7 OS) on one port
4 x SATA 3Gb/s ports---->Use all four ports for RAID 10 WD Blacks
Marvell 9120Chipset (can it RAID 1?) :??:

2 x SATA 6Gb/s ports---->Rebuild current VRaptor RAID 1 using the two ports

2)$250____2.5TB = RAID 1 + current VRaptor RAID 1 = 2x 2TB WD Caviar Black @$125/drive
Intel P67 Chipset
2 x SATA 6Gb/s ports---->Keep current SSD (Win7 OS) on one port
4 x SATA 3Gb/s ports---->Use 2 ports for RAID 1 WD Blacks & 2 ports for VRaptor RAID 1

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE ADVICE GUYS!!!!

giantbucket · Mar 20, 2015

i'd do:

SSD on one of the intel sata ports (for fun, add another SSD on the other port and RAID1 that pair)
4x Seagate 2T / 3T in a RAID10 on the other intel ports
2x VR in RAID1 or RAID0 on the Marvell ports

yes, you can have two separate RAID setups on the same intel chipset.

in our office server (which uses an ASRock C226 WS board), i set it up similarly, but had 2 SSD on first 2 sata ports in RAID1 and 4x 1T Seagate in RAID10 on other intel ports, and keeping my Marvell ports for extra single non-raid drives. and backups go to external 4T seagate. hot-swap bays for all the RAID drives, too.

JdotH · Mar 20, 2015

giantbucket :

Thanks for the reply! Seriously.

So Seagate is ok to go with? Ive heard WD Blacks are good (kinda fast and reliable) and that Seagate had failure issues....Think the Seagate models I listed are ok?

Can you confirm Marvel 9120 can RAID 1? If so then my VR will go there.

Do you have any RAID 10 & Marvell RAID 1 tips? Ive only used RAID 1 so far.

giantbucket · Mar 20, 2015

hmm, according to this (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8P67_EVO/specifications/), the Marvell ports don't do RAID. but that's ok since you can always stuff in a PCI / PCIe board that can do some RAID stuff if you like RAIDing everything in sight. i don't bother RAIDing at home - for me it's just not worth the effort. at the office it's more about supporting multiple users and uptime. if you REALLY want SPEED, picking from various hard drives is just splitting hairs. nine times out of ten a single SSD will likely be twice as fast as a RAID1 of hard drives, and probably RAID10 as well.

and yeah, i'm a-ok with seagate drives. fast and silent from what i've seen. i use the ST3000DM001 at home (non RAID) and ST1000DM001 at the office (RAID10). heck, i've had two of the old 7200.11 "tick of death" drives that everyone hated, and one is still alive (the other was getting worn down so i disassembled it for fun).

i've used wd black in the 2.5" size and was unimpressed, but haven't bothered with 3.5" blacks. i have a 3.5" wd red that's overpriced but quiet and not terribly fast (but faster than a 2.5" black)

JdotH · Mar 20, 2015

giantbucket :

Yep confirmed Marvell 9120 doesnt RAID aswell. Crap

So RAID 10 + SSD ....or RAID 1 + SSD it is then. Wait, can Intel P67 on my motherboard handle two seperate RAID 1 using the 4 x SATA 3Gb/s? For example I would keep my VR RAID 1 (using 2of 4 SATA 3Gb/s ports) and just add a new RAID 1 on the remaining 2 ports. The SSD remains on its original 1of2 SATA 6Gb/s ports.

Seeing as now I might replace my VR RAID with new Seagate RAID 1 or RAID 10......Can I simply unplug one VR drive from the Intel SATA port & plug it into my Marvel port (turning on Marvel Controller in Bios of course)? Im trying to find the easiest way to transfer the files to the new RAID 1/10 on the 4 Intel SATA 3Gb/s ports. How does one disassemble a RAID 1 array and keep the identical data on bothdrives so they can transfer files? If I can add the aforementioned RAID 1 to the remaining 2 SATA 3Gb/s ports then maybe I could just copy the files from the VR RAID......?

giantbucket · Mar 20, 2015

the intel chips can handle a few RAIDs within the 6 ports, theoretically should be able to make 3 sets of RAID1, or a RAID1 + RAID10, or whatever. at least that's how easily it worked in my C226 WS board. though i'm not sure if it will let you have the RAID straddle the 6G and 3G ports. probably would since it supports RAID5, but even if it doesn't you ought to be able to do one RAID on the 6G ports and another RAID on the 3G ports (or 2 RAIDs on the 3G ports, or a RAID and an individual).

as for the second part - i'd play it safe and just do a copy onto a single separate drive before moving the RAIDed drives to another controller or port.

if you don't have a separate external (or internal) drive, then the process would be to copy the VR stuff onto a single (non-RAID) Seagate to make a temp backup, break the VR RAID, copy from Seagate back onto SEPARATE VRs, use Seagate to finally put together the main RAID10, and finally copy from the separated VRs to the RAID. sounds long-winded but probably the safest way since i don't know how well the VR RAID would work if you started to move it to other ports.

JdotH · Mar 20, 2015

giantbucket :

the intel chips can handle a few RAIDs within the 6 ports, theoretically should be able to make 3 sets of RAID1, or a RAID1 + RAID10, or whatever. at least that's how easily it worked in my C226 WS board. though i'm not sure if it will let you have the RAID straddle the 6G and 3G ports. probably would since it supports RAID5, but even if it doesn't you ought to be able to do one RAID on the 6G ports and another RAID on the 3G ports (or 2 RAIDs on the 3G ports, or a RAID and an individual).

as for the second part - i'd play it safe and just do a copy onto a single separate drive before moving the RAIDed drives to another controller or port.

if you don't have a separate external (or internal) drive, then the process would be to copy the VR stuff onto a single (non-RAID) Seagate to make a temp backup, break the VR RAID, copy from Seagate back onto SEPARATE VRs, use Seagate to finally put together the main RAID10, and finally copy from the separated VRs to the RAID. sounds long-winded but probably the safest way since i don't know how well the VR RAID would work if you started to move it to other ports.

You Sir are a Gentleman & a Scholar. Thank you.

Now to find the best price on great drives....so many drives to pick from.

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