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raid questions

Tags:
  • NAS / RAID
  • Caviar
  • Western Digital
  • Storage
  • Product
Last response: in Storage
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November 5, 2007 11:08:45 PM

I'm deciding between getting a Western Digital Caviar SE 16 750gb, 2 of the 500gb and running them in a raid 0 or 4 or the 320gb and running them in a raid 10 setup. Is their a noticeable performance difference between on board raid controllers and raid cards? I've seen cards for as little as $20, is their a noticeable difference in a raid 0 or 10 setup between a $20 and $200 raid card? I would be using these for everything except for storage of pictures and movies. The alternative would be a 150g raptor and a 750gb caviar. What setup will give me the most bang for my buck?

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November 6, 2007 2:01:14 PM

Without question, RAID 0 will give you more bang for your buck, but that's basic RAID math. 2 500GB disks in RAID0 will give you 1TB of storage. 4 320GB disks in RAID10 will give you 640GB. The big difference is that the RAID10 will give you redundancy. In general a good RAID10 will give you slightly better read performance and slightly worse write performance than a RAID0 array. (That's because it has two disks it has to write data to, but it also has two disks with every piece of data and can share the load across the two disks)
November 6, 2007 3:22:11 PM

I would stgrongly suggest going with something that has redunsancy unless you have a very good backup solution in place.
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a b G Storage
November 6, 2007 4:03:54 PM

What are you doing with this computer? I get the feeling that your last idea is the best.
November 6, 2007 5:38:33 PM

thanks for the replies. I will be using the computer for a bit of gaming, storing data like photo and probably some small business stuff, storing records. Two questions I was wondering about is if their is a noticeable difference between raid cards, probably running raid10. The other is if their is some good advantage to using single platter drives other then price. I seem to be reading that their quieter, create less heat and a lower probability of failure and maybe faster?
a b G Storage
November 6, 2007 7:52:08 PM

I didn't see anything that you listed that would require a RAID setup. The closest thing would be the storage of photos and "small business stuff." Its important to back these kind of things up, but RAID1 isn't a backup solution.

Here is what I'd do. If you want some speed for your OS/games, get the raptor if you have the $$$. Then get two more drives. One of them goes in the computer and provides the room that the raptor doesn't. The second gets put into a USB enclosure so that you can back up the important things that need to be backed up. For your uses, I wouldn't select RAID at all.
November 6, 2007 8:24:41 PM

Ok, I think I will get the raptor 74gb and caviar gb750. I've noticed a few people recommending others to use an external drive enclosure for back-ups. What's the advantage of external vs internal?
November 6, 2007 8:46:36 PM

AHHH DONT DO RAID FOR IMPORTANT STUFF!!!

as to advantages for external enclosures vs internal drives:
External drives can easily be disconnected and connected to another computer or stored away until you need it. External Drives also suffer from lower read/write times (espically over USB... get firewire or preferably eSATA).
a b G Storage
November 6, 2007 8:48:03 PM

Backups are just that, backups. Lets say that you have a RAID1 setup on your machine, 2x500GB harddrives. What happens on one drive is mirrored in real time on the other. So what happens if someone else is sitting as your machine and in his/her stupidity deletes something they shouldn't have? Its gone from BOTH drives. What happens if there is a storm and you forgot to shut down and you get a lightening strike? Its possible to fry not only the PSU in this case, but any/everything attached to it.

This is the reason backups should be external. If you unplug the USB (and power if it has it) drive every time, it can't get the virus you accidentally picked up, it won't get fried by lightening, and stupid people won't delete things off of it. True backups should also be stored offsite, though most of us don't need to go to those extremes.

You have a raptor for speed and a large drive for storage, so you should be pretty much set for anything. If your backup requirements are that high, then I do suggest an external harddrive. If they aren't, then be careful with the machine and enjoy.
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