Storage setup with multiple RAID types; M.2 or PCIe NVMe?

Irondiva

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Apr 29, 2015
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I would really appreciate your advice on the following: I would like to create a new storage setup for my professional needs on RAID. Specifically:

Storage 1: 2x256GB SSD drives on RAID 0 for OS - performance is important, failure protection is not a big of a deal
Storage 2: 512GB SSD - NO RAID
Storage 3: 2x2TB HDD drives on RAID 1 for local storage of files (before external backup)
Motherboard: Asus x99-a

1. This is my first time I am tinkering with RAID and I need to know in advance, if this is possible, as I will have to spend a reasonably high amount of money on this setup.
2. Maybe 1X M.2x4 PCIe NVMe 512GB will be better than RAID 0 setup for OS? Cannot find M.2 cards that actually have better write speed that SSDs on RAID 0.

 
Solution
Just take PCIe NVMe SSD. Almost any 512Gb NVMe will be MUCH faster than 2xSATA 256 Gb in RAID0 in terms of sequential speeds. And will be significantly faster in terms of random speeds.

With 2xSATA SSDs you can reach theoretically 1100Mb/s as a maximum (in reality it will be less than 1000 Mb/s).

Here are the sequential specs for available 500-512 Gb NVMe SSDs (read/write):

Intel 600p (the worst NVMe on the market) - 1775/560 Mb/s, 189$ (prices from NewEgg).

Plextor M8Pe - 2300/1300 Mb/s, 249.99$.

Intel 750 400 Gb - 2500/1200 Mb/s, 299.99$.

Toshiba OCZ RD400 - 2600/1600 Mb/s, 309.99$.

Zotac Sonix 480 Gb - 2600/1300 Mb/s, 319.95 $(Amazon).

Patriot Hellfire 480 Gb - 3000/2200 Mb/s, 319.99 $.

Samsung 950 PRO - 2500/1500 Mb/s...

Irondiva

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2x256GB SSD drives on RAID 0. I don't understand your comment. The article in the link says exactly what I already know: 2 SSDs on RAID 0 perform faster than one SSD of double size.

"A single 500GB NVMe would be faster" - that's questionable, depending on which SSDs and which NVMe you have in mind.

Would you be able to share which M.2 slot NVMe will definitely be faster than 2 Pro level SSDs in RAID 0? Because all NVMe's I saw until this moment have a worse sequential write speed than 2SSDs in RAID 0.

It only makes sense if sequential write for NVMe will be higher than 1000 MBps. I haven't seen any M.2 NVMe that have that write speed.

 

Irondiva

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It's not for home use at all. And I am not worried about RAID O failure. In my case both setups will result in similar budget. 2 Pro level SSDs will cost just a little bit less than M.2 NVMe, so the price difference is negligable. What does really concern me, if extra money I'll spend on M.2 NVME will actually produce better results than SSD's on RAID 0.

I am really unfamiliar with M.2 - there are pcie 2.0 x 4 m.2 cards; and there are M.2x4 slot cards. I have both slots available, but I don't understand the difference of these two types. Can you advise?
 

Irondiva

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That is why I am asking - I don't know. Do I need a 40 lane CPU for that? I am not really choosing for THE BEST performance. I am choosing between options that I have (too many actually, so difficult to choose from) and trying to figure out which of them will deliver BETTER performance within budget and will give me more improvement overall.

Originally conversation was only about HDD Raid 10 storage for 8 active TB, but then we started to think that it might be better to upgrade the storage for super fast OS performance with cache SSD and smaller RAID storage. Raid 10 is out of the question for now. I am working within a certain budget and RAID 10 with NAS HDD (like WD Red Pro) will take all the budget for itself. I might upgrade my RAID 1 to RAID 10 later.

So I am looking for storage solution within 500-600€ excl VAT that will improve performance of my system on Storage 1, will have Storage 2 - SSD for Adobe cache and work (this one I already have); and temporary backup storage 3 on RAID with failure protection within that amount.

"NVMe or M2" - I realy don't get those: aren't they the same thing? Example: http://ark.intel.com/products/94924/Intel-SSD-600p-Series-512GB-M_2-80mm-PCIe-3_0-x4-3D1-TLC
Sequential write speed is unsatisfactory in comparison to performance of 2 SSDs on RAID 0, in my opinion. Maybe I am looking at the wrong product?
 

USAFRet

Titan
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No.
M.2 is the physical interface, NVMe (or SATA) is the data interface.

You can get an m.2 drive in either SATA or NVMe.
A SATA m.2 runs at the same speed as a regular 2.5" SATA drive. Just plugs into a different space on the motherboard. And generally sucks up 1 or 2 normal SATA ports.

NVMe plugs into the same physical port, but interfaces with the PCI-e bus. Faster speed.
 

Game256

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Just take PCIe NVMe SSD. Almost any 512Gb NVMe will be MUCH faster than 2xSATA 256 Gb in RAID0 in terms of sequential speeds. And will be significantly faster in terms of random speeds.

With 2xSATA SSDs you can reach theoretically 1100Mb/s as a maximum (in reality it will be less than 1000 Mb/s).

Here are the sequential specs for available 500-512 Gb NVMe SSDs (read/write):

Intel 600p (the worst NVMe on the market) - 1775/560 Mb/s, 189$ (prices from NewEgg).

Plextor M8Pe - 2300/1300 Mb/s, 249.99$.

Intel 750 400 Gb - 2500/1200 Mb/s, 299.99$.

Toshiba OCZ RD400 - 2600/1600 Mb/s, 309.99$.

Zotac Sonix 480 Gb - 2600/1300 Mb/s, 319.95 $(Amazon).

Patriot Hellfire 480 Gb - 3000/2200 Mb/s, 319.99 $.

Samsung 950 PRO - 2500/1500 Mb/s, 315.62$.

Samsung 960 EVO (release date: October 2016) - 3200/1800 Mb/s, 249$.

Samsung 960 PRO (release date: October 2016) - 3500/2100 Mb/s, 329$.

Samsung SSDs are the best.




 
Solution

Irondiva

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Apr 29, 2015
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Super, super, super overview! The Intel 600p was the one I was looking at originally, and I would not understand why everybody is so crazy about those, cause its sequential write is pretty basic.

I am looking at Plextors now. However, none of those are on my mobo "approval list". Will have to take risks =)

However, das_stig mentioned something about 40-lane cpu's. Is it a fact or a myth that I need those for full performance of PCIe NVMe?