5400rpm disks for a server?

[wuhtzu]

Hey folks

Will 2 5400rpm harddisks setup in raid0 do the job for a gameserver or will they be to slow? Im thinking about something like:

Samsung SpinPoint M40S HM080JI
5400rpm
80Gb
8Mb Cache
12 ms searchtime

Will those be too slow if I setup a RAID0?

Best regards
Wuhtzu

 

[macer1]

my 2 year old laptop has 5400 rpm and it feels the pain every day when loading massive spread sheets.

dont be cheap spend the extra 20$ a HD for 7200

 

[wuhtzu]

It isn't because I don't wanna spend more money on a 7200rpm, but because I thought the 5400rpm would be more quiet. Actually the 5400rpm is more expensive than the 7200rpm.... here in Denmark

 

[macer1]

the 7200 and the 5400 are nearly the same in sound, atleast to my ears.

and for a server faster means better, such a small upgrade will make a BIG difference.

 

[quantumsheep]

If you can stretch to it, why not get a 10k RPM rapotr drive. For PCs they are pretty pointless, but in a server you gain quite a bit of performance.

 

[1Tanker]

If you can stretch to it, why not get a 10k RPM rapotr drive. For PCs they are pretty pointless, but in a server you gain quite a bit of performance.

The Raptors will be noisier though, especially during
read/write.

 

[angry_ducky]

The Raptors will be noisier though, especially during
read/write.

He could get an insulated case, though. I'd get Raptors for a game server.

 

[wuhtzu]

I was looking for a quiet solution, thats why I was thinking about the 5400rpm, but if 7200rpm and 5400rpm are nearly the same noise, then I think I will go for a 7200rpm...


I have thought about a 10krpm, like raptor and so, but the server has to run a CS:S server and a fileserver....

The connection is a 10mbit/10mbit and 10mbit means about 1.25mb/s and even a slow harddisk, like a 7200rpm SATA can handle up to 300mb/s, which means no problem at all regarding the file server part, not even with a 5400rpm i think...

But the the game server part I think 10krpm raptor would improve performance, but I think a 7200rpm can handle it, dont you guys?

 

[mesarectifier]

SCSI?

Get a few SCSI 10K drives.

 

[wuhtzu]

Would a single 10000rpm Raptor read/write faster than 2x7200rpm in RAID0?

Theoretically RAID0 with two disks means double read/write speed, so the RAID0 with 2x7200rpm would give me both fast read/write for the game server and alot of capacity for the file server (2x200gb or so), dont you think?

 

[Pain]

If it were only a game server then it really wouldn't matter, the server would still load the game/levels before the client, so it would be fine. But you say it will also be a file server so that may cause some issues. However, if it is only going to serve a few people at a time then it should be fine.

 

[wuhtzu]

You are thinking of issues with the read/write capacity if the game server is running at the same the file server is running...

Would a 10000rpm disks counter such issues?

 

[linux_0]

0. 15000 RPM U320 SCSI is the best you can get apart from using RAM drives or solid state storage drives.

1. 10000 RPM WD1500ADFD 150GB Raptors

2. 7200 RPM Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 160GB Drives


http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchmark/bench_sort.php

 

[wuhtzu]

How about the buffer size?

Should it just be 8mb or 16mb?

 

[linux_0]

How about the buffer size?

Should it just be 8mb or 16mb?

16MB

[code:1:a42c606a4d]
1 Maxtor Atlas 15K II (147 GB Ultra320 SCSI) 8E147L0 97.4

2 Fujitsu MAU (147 GB Ultra320 SCSI) MAU3147NP 93.8

3 Seagate Cheetah 15K.4 Server Mode (147 GB SAS) ST3146854SS 93.4

4 Hitachi Ultrastar 15K147 (147 GB Ultra320 SCSI) HUS151414VL3600 93.2

5 Seagate Cheetah 15K.4 Server Mode (147 GB Ultra320 SCSI) ST3146754LW 93.2

6 Seagate Cheetah 15K.4 Desktop Mode (147 GB Ultra320 SCSI) ST3146754LW 93.2

7 Maxtor Atlas 10K V (300 GB Ultra320 SCSI) 8D300L0 89.5

8 Fujitsu MAT (300 GB Ultra320 SCSI) MAT3300NP 88.5

9 Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD with NCQ (150 GB SATA) WD1500ADFD-00NLR0 88.3

10 Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD no NCQ (150 GB SATA) WD1500ADFD-00NLR0 88.3

11 Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD with NCQ (150 GB SATA) WD1500AHFD-00RAR0 87.3

12 Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD no NCQ (150 GB SATA) WD1500AHFD-00RAR0 87.3

13 Hitachi Ultrastar 10K300 (300 GB Ultra320 SCSI) HUS103030FL3600 86.3

14 Seagate Cheetah 10K.7 Desktop Mode (300 GB Ultra320 SCSI) ST3300007LW 76.5

15 Seagate Cheetah 10K.7 Server Mode (300 GB Ultra320 SCSI) ST3300007LW 76.5

16 Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 no NCQ (160 GB SATA) ST3160812AS 72.7

17 Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 with NCQ (160 GB SATA) ST3160812AS 72.7

[/code:1:a42c606a4d]

 

[1Tanker]

0. 15000 RPM U320 SCSI is the best you can get apart from using RAM drives or solid state storage drives.

1. 10000 RPM WD1500ADFD 150GB Raptors

2. 7200 RPM Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 160GB Drives


http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchmark/bench_sort.php

Everyone is overlooking his Point.....Low noise...a 15K SCSI isn't going

to be quiet.

 

[wuhtzu]

But am I right if I say that the essence this must be that 15k/10k would be best, but with my demands for a quiete server a 7200rpm would be best?

7200rpm
16mb buffer

 

[quantumsheep]

Aye, you are right in your assumptions. A 16mb cached 7200rpm is still pretty quick, and should serve you well. It's just not AS quick as a 15k rpm scsi

 

[Scougs]

From my experience, modern 7200 RPM hardrives can barely be heard. Pobably the only way you would really notice the sound is if you have no fans in the computer.

I have a 74Gig Raptor and a 80Gig 7200rpm drive. I can't here either of them when my cas fans are turned up (I have a fan speed controller for the case fans). When the fans are turned down I can hear the Raptor some but I can't really hear the 7200rpm drive unless it has been sitting idle so long that it has to spin back up.

 

[wuhtzu]

Do you think the RAID0 (using 2x 7200rpm) will give any performance boost or should I go for one 300Gb 7200rpm instead of the 2 160Gb 7200 Im thinking of now?

 

[michaelahess]

Everyone seems to be overlooking a simple point here, he's not doing anything local, serving contect will be limited to the network interface, he said 10Mb so any 5400rpm drive, prefably not set as a system drive, will server data more than fast enough. Put the OS on one and the CS data and file data on the other, or hell just the CS on the OS and the rest of the data on the other as file serving will stress the hd way more than the CS server. Just make sure you don't extra crap running on the server and you shouldn't have a problem (No AV, disk utilities, etc.)

Get the quitest drive you can find, samsungs and seagates seem to generally be quite in my experience.

The important thing with a game server is that you have a good nic and fast cpu and ram (think Intel 10/100M or S for example) Built in nics burn too many cpu cycles.

 

[linux_0]

Do you think the RAID0 (using 2x 7200rpm) will give any performance boost or should I go for one 300Gb 7200rpm instead of the 2 160Gb 7200 Im thinking of now?

A few Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 (160 GB SATA) HDDs should do the job at a reasonable cost.

Maybe use 1 for the OS and 1 for data.

RAID can be a headache depending on what you're doing and the controller you're using.

A true hardware RAID controller from 3Ware can offer 800MB reads and 350MB/sec writes in RAID5 with 8 disks provided you have PCI-X

There are PCI-E RAID controllers as well which should offer even better performance.

Onboard RAID pales by comparison.

Of course that is probably overkill, 2-4 single drives are probably best for your setup.