Yet another query with RAID 0

[Scottismo]

Ok here's the question. I know that 2x HDD's in RAID 0 are faster than a single drive. I know that there is also a greater risk of data loss. However I have a question:

I have a choice between 1x 200gb WD 8mb cache 7200rpm HD
or 2x 120gb WD 8mb cache 7200rpm HD. This would have the advantage of boosting my capacity to 240gb rather than 200gb and doubling the read/write speed. However, would reliability decreasing using the two drives in RAID 0 in comparison to using a single drive or due to not having any redundancy does this mean that the two drives are no more likely to experience a fault than the one drive alone?

P.S I can get 2x 120gb drives for the same price as the 200gb so the choice is simply which one to go for.

 

[soulprovider]

Acceptable manufacturer drive failure rates are around 1% per year i.e. 1 in a hundred. Some models will have a much lower failure rate while others may be higher. All drives will fail at some time - some may take minutes, others will take years and there's no real way of knowing but using SMART can predict some failures.

The increased risk of failure when using a pair of striped drives is really just calculated from averages - the more you own of something, the more likely that you'll encounter one of the bad ones in the batch.

Having just one drive presents exactly the same risk as having two in Raid 0 - if it fails all your data is gone.

Personally I'd buy the 2 120GB drives and run them Raid 0. CD's are cheap enough to back up all your data

<b>Vorsprung durch Dontwerk</b>.....<i>as they say at VIA</i>