Best HDD for workstation RAID config?

[Remix78]

Hi,

I'm building myself an x99 workstation which would mainly be used for content creation and 3D rendering. As you may know, 3D rendering is all about rendering frames by thousands, and compositing them before you even render out a compressed video file. 2 SSD would be used for OS, Apps, and cache. The main concern is to manage large project files both in speed and security. Backups would be dealt on externals.

I want to choose my project drives for performance and security. Therefore, I would naturally want to build a RAID1, 5 or 10 setup (w/ motherboard RAID controller). Being limited on my budget, I could also consider a more balanced option.

Looking at the options available, I see a few working scenarios:

Option 1:
2 x Velociraptor 1Tb drives in RAID 1 (1 TB total): Super fast, but pricey for capacity, but suitable for RAID1?

Option 2:
2 x Caviar black 3Tb drives in RAID 1 (3Tb total): Fast, although not recommended for RAID use. Really?

Option 3:
3 x Red Pro 2 Tb drives in RAID 5 (4Tb total): Fast, and reliable. Though, would it work in a 3x desktop config?

Option 4:
4 x Red 3 TB drives in RAID 10 (6Tb total): reliable but slow drives. Would data stripping compensate?

Is there any good option I would be missing? Otherwise, I would think that OPTION 3 (3x Red Pro in RAID 5) would be the sweet spot for budget vs capacity vs performance vs security. However, I can't find anything on whether these drives are suitable for a desktop environment (as opposed to a 6+ NAS enclosure).

What do you guys think?

Thanks for reading and advising for the best solution to build this rig! Cheers!

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, Remix78!

Quite the workstation you are building. Really impressive! You definitely thought of everything! Congrats!

Concerning your options:
Option 1:
WD Velociraptors are fast indeed, but not suitable for RAID.

Option 2:
Yes, really, it's not recommended to use WD Black drives in arrays.
Basically using these drives in RAID would void their warranty and they are not really designed for that purpose at all.

Option 3:
Yes, this is something that will work only with WD Red drives. They are specifically designed for RAID configurations.
And yes, it will work with 3 drives since RAID 5 requires a minimum of 3 HDDs.
It's just not really big enough for WD Red Pro drives.

Option 4:
This RAID 10 is also a good option. It should compensate since your drives are in pairs 2 mirrored and 2 striped. The disks within the group are mirrored but the groups themselves are striped. I haven't used such an array yet, but it should be able to compensate.

I'm a fan of your RAID 5 myself.
As for your concern about the WD Red Pro drives being suitable for desktop environment - no. They are specifically designed and tested for medium to large business NAS applications with 8 – 16 bays. They are more suitable for larger tower or rack mount NAS form factors.
However you can swap those with WD Red drives with no problem, they are ideal for 1 - 8 bay NAS systems and PCs with RAID. Here you can see they are not that different:
http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/Flyer/ENG/2178-800081.pdf

Hope this helped!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Remix78]

Thanks for your very clear answer! Basically, I was comparing drive speeds. Reds are usually rated around 5,400 rpm and Red Pros are 7,200. Maybe it defies their purpose, but wouldn't I see a better performance overall using Red Pros in a desktop?

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Thanks for your very clear answer! Basically, I was comparing drive speeds. Reds are usually rated around 5,400 rpm and Red Pros are 7,200. Maybe it defies their purpose, but wouldn't I see a better performance overall using Red Pros in a desktop?

Well, when you put it like that, yes, you would be able to see a better performance from the WD Red Pro drive when it comes to drive speeds. It should work for your.
Keep me posted with the final decision for you workstation!

Hope I helped!