SSD Boot Drive with Windows 7

[Student9]

I'm considering using a SSD as my boot drive for the 1st time.
The OS is Windows 7 Ultimate. My questions are:
1) Capacity. What happens if the drive fills up. I will have alot of video files, what are stragegies for storing them on a conventional HDD instead of filling up the SSD?
2) RAID. I want to use RAID 1. ASUS Z68 MoBo. All the User's guide says is both drives must be the same size. Any experiences with SSD and conventional HDD mixed RAID 1 configuration?

 

[penguintech]

if the drives are not the same size on a RAID 1, it will not work as a RAID, That much I do know. And as for the drive "filling up" either get a large capacity SSD drive to handle everything your putting on it or store everything important on an external drive and plug in when you need to do something.... like use an external terrabyte drive for all the videos.

 

[ssddx]

if you want to use raid 1... get two ssd drives. i'm not sure if a hdd and ssd raid1 would work. even if it did, with the lower speeds you would be getting... a ssd would be a bad investment. with two ssd drives both drives will be equally fast causing no issues.

if you just want a boot ssd you store the OS and maybe some core programs on the ssd and all of your extra junk on the original HDD. you dont put all of your video files on the ssd and fill it up.

i recommend at least a 60, preferably an 80gb ssd.

 

[WyomingKnott]

1) This is in the wrong forum; we have a perfectly good SSD forum.

2) RAID1 of SSDs is a sucker bet. First of all, if you buy two 64 GB SSDs and place them in RAID1, you will get worse performance than you would get from a 128 GB SSD from the same line. Trust me, the manufacturer can use the storage more efficiently than we can. Second, you will lose the TRIM command and the disks will crud up as you use them. Third, RAID 1 drastically increases the risk of loss of all the data on the striped drives.

While individuals may have success putting SSDs in RAID, they are the lucky ones. Statistically, people who just buy a larger SSD will be happier.

RAID zero not your system drives; great risk will you be exposed to. If a 120 GB system drive you need, a 120 GB system drive you should purchase. Or see what Xbitlabs has to say: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/kigston-hyperx-ssd-raid0_7.html#sect0

 

[ssddx]

@wyomingknott,

i do believe you are confusing raid1 with raid0.

raid1=data mirroring, raid0=data striping

so if you have two 64gb drives in raid1 you will only have 64gb of space.

i have two 80gb ssd drives in raid1 on my own pc. i do this for peace of mind since i had 3 hard drive failures on my old hdd raid1. yeah, not going to take any chances.

no luck involved. ssds work fine in raid1. i cannot comment on raid0 but i've heard many success stories.

 

[WyomingKnott]

ssddx:

Thank you for catching me putting my foot in my mouth. I've seen so many of those darned RAID0 my SSD posts that I've started skimming. The one thing that I don't agree with is "I've heard many success stories" for RAID 0. I have, too. Then again, I know many people who drive without their seatbelts on and are fine; doesn't mean that it's a good idea.

OP, my apologies for the off-topic post.

 

[ssddx]

tbph....

just having an ssd is perfectly fine for transfer speeds.

in any case i would never run a raid0 for fear of data loss. i've had 3 normal hdds die on me in less than 4 months before. i am running both my ssds in a raid1 as backup.

we all put our foot in our mouth at times. i just figured i would clarify things so the op didnt get confused.