Storage rebuild RAID SSD and HDD

[longinthetooth]

Time to upgrade and redesign my desktop storage.
Checked posts 2009 to today, about using RAID 0 for performance in 2 SSDs, but getting conflicting messages.
My intention was to use the SSDs for the applications and HDD for data storage.
However, some posts say that RAID 0 only gives benefit for large file size i/o, which doesn't seem to characterise applications; while earlier post say the SSD RAID 0 design has ideal perforamce and characteristic for that role.
The most recent $2000 System Builder Marathon uses this design.

In the past I have used RAID 1 for data security. However, recovery is another issue? If mobo RAID is used and the hardware failure is mobo related, it is complex. Fine if the mobo is still current, but that is unlikely as mobo reliability is generally good. If the failure is HDD, not sure if the same issue will occur, again same HDD no longer available?
Is a separate card based RAID controller a better option with greater longevity? Are there other issues with future upgrades of O/S and mobo, etc?
I am wondering if RAID 1 is a sensible option, is it really workable over the long term? Maybe with such cheap HDD it would be better to just dump to a remote HDD periodically.

 

[tokencode]

RAID 0 was not a good option for SSDs because of the failure to pass TRIM through to the drives. Over time without TRIM SSDs will get slower and these defeated the purpose of RAID. While its true RAID does not decreease access times, with SSD access times are not thet issue. It will effectively double your throughput, but make sure there are no other bottlenecks otherwise you will not see the benefit.

Whoever said RAID 0 only benfits large files must mean files larger than 64k strip size most controllers use. You may be better off spending more money on a faster, larger single SSD though. Do your reaserch on your RAID controller and make sure it supports TRIM passthrough.

 

[longinthetooth]

Thanks Tokencode. Paraphrasing, I think you are saying in the past, ie, prior to TRIM controllers, RAID 0 SSD wasn't a good idea.

What I am not clear about is whether multiple SSDs and RAID 0 is agood idea at all, as a larger SSD is just as good as Multiple adding to the size, ie, RAID 0 doeasn't add anything.

If the latter is correct, then why does the $2000 System Builder machine use the twin SSD RAID 0 design?

The second question about data security and RAID 1 (or its variants) is still a concern. The whole point of RAID 1 is longevity of storage, ie, it is about protecting against loss of data. HDD typically last a for a few years, but if the dedicated card needs upgrading, or likewise the mobo, is the RAID 1 data actually available and safe? Hence these days is RAID 1 just a relatively short term security strategy, with overheads one could de without, where longer term security is better resolved with additional and very cheap large HDD?