Which Raid, I'm confused

[Aranon]

Just so I am making the right decision and not confused I would like to know if I am picking the right Raid. I think I want Raid 5. I am going to buy three Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb drives. I want to stripe with Raid 0 for speed but want Raid 1 for reliability. I first thought of Raid 1+0 but from my understanding Raid 5 would be better. I could go Raid 6 but would have to buy another drive and can't see the benefit of the extra money over 3 drives with Raid 5.

Am I understanding all of this correctly or can you have two drives in Raid 0 and a third that mirrors the data with out striping????? I just want it to be super fast (without spending the extra money for SCSI, which I know is faster) Could someone tell me the pros and cons in a simple 3rd grade explanation sort of way[/u][/u], as to which one I should use to be the quickest most responsive but still be reliable. This is for my business for my host computer where I have three other computers accessing it and we store all our files on it for safe keeping. I have two USB 74 gb storage drives that we back up once a week so we don't lose everything if something happens.

If Raid 6 is the better option, I could buy another drive, they are not that much. I just wants whats best for my application. The more I research the more I get confused. I plan on using Areca Technology- ARC-1110 PCI-X 64bit/133MHz SATA II Controller Card RAID level 0, 1, 1E, 3, 5, 6 and JBOD controller card.

Please add you 2 cents. I am all ears. Thanks

 

[br3nd064]

Raid 0 is going to be the quickest, but the least reliable. Since it's for a business and you're getting a controller card with it, I'd say, yes, go with Raid 5. A velociraptor is probably going to be overkill. If it were me, I'd get 3 7200rpm drives.

 

[lotussama]

I agree with the poster above. You will want to do RAID5 and those velociraptors are probably overkill in a RAID 5 configuration.

BTW, RAID 1+0 will also require four drives. Depending on the applications you're going to be using the computer for, it's possibly the best bet, if fast read/write is what you require (in a database server, for instance).

 

[Aranon]

Did you mean Raid 1+O would be the best bet or did you mean Raid 5 would be the best bet.

If the VelociRaptors are too much ( for $179 each seemed cheap) or too much overkill then how about 3 or 4 Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD1601ABYS 160GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives.

They are less than $60. These are so cheap I could buy 4 of them and go Raid 6 or is Raid 5 the fastest for the money with only 3.

Also would there be any benefit of putting the OS on a seperate drive?

 

[Aranon]

Thanks for the input. I have decided to go with Raid 5 using three (3) Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD1601ABYS 160GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drives.

These are cheap (less than $60 each) with a Areca ARC-1110 controller. ( I thought about Velociraptors but they are $180 each and like you said, really overkill, especially in a Raid 5 for what I am doing.)

My Sonic Wall is old and slow and I need to replace it with something faster. I don't want another fee based unit. I was hoping for some suggestions on what would be good. I would still be using Internet security software ie: Trend Micro, Kaspersky, or McAfee Security Suites. (Using Kaspersky now)

I would really like a wireless router so as I upgrade printers, they are wireless. Any suggestions for a fast secure (not too expensive) wireless router thats fast ( gigabit - Wireless N - dual channel ??) which I will hook up a NETGEAR's GS108T Gigabit Smart Switch to for my Cat5e cables to hardwire my four computers together.

I am backing up my data with USB external backup drives.

Any thoughts about a good secure router that is not fee based? Hopefully wireless. I have ATT/Yahoo DSL Pro getting 2.5+ to 3 Mbps. In the next year we are suppose to be able to upgrade to Elite with up to 6 Mbps.

Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Aranon]

Ok, after reading other forums and feedback I now have been convinced to go Raid 1E with Areca ARC-1210 PCI-Express controller but with and even number of drives = 4, which in essence is Raid 10 that supposed to be a lot faster than 5 but with good security.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Ok, after reading other forums and feedback I now have been convinced to go Raid 1E with Areca ARC-1210 PCI-Express controller but with and even number of drives = 4, which in essence is Raid 10 that supposed to be a lot faster than 5 but with good security.

There is a pervasive myth that RAID 5 is slow.

I think not. (See my post in that thread).

Now, you need a good, enterprise-level RAID card to do that. Cheapie motherboard controllers do not fall in that category.

Your Areca card should be able to do RAID 5 quite nicely. What you might do is purchase the Areca and the 4 drives, set them up in a RAID 5 and get some benchmarks, then set them up in a RAID 10 and repeat. Then choose which you want to go with.

 

[Aranon]

Sure wouldn't cost anything to do that and would end up giving me the results on which is fastest. The card does both and suppose to be one of the fastest out there. Thanks. Good idea.

Of course now I have to start searching about how best to do benchmarks and what to do. Any links that would teach me the best way?

 

[br3nd064]

You could use HD Tune.