Can Heterogeneous RAID Arrays Work?

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Test Setup

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System Hardware
Processor(s)	2x Intel Xeon Processor (Nocona core)3.6 GHz, FSB800, 1 MB L2 Cache
Platform	Asus NCL-DS (Socket 604)Intel E7520 Chipset, BIOS 1005
RAM	Corsair CM72DD512AR-400 (DDR2-400 ECC, reg.)2x 512 MB, CL3-3-3-10 Timings
System Hard Drive	Western Digital Caviar WD1200JB120 GB, 7,200 U/Min, 8 MB Cache, UltraATA/100
Mass Storage Controller(s)	Intel 82801EB UltraATA/100 Controller (ICH5)Promise SATA 300TX4Promise FastTrak TX4310Driver 2.06.1.310
Networking	Broadcom BCM5721 On-Board Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Graphics Subsystem	On-Board GraphicsATI RageXL, 8 MB
System Hardware
Performance Measurements	c’t h2benchw 3.6PCMark05 V1.01
I/O Performance	IOMeter 2003.05.10Fileserver BenchmarkWebserver BenchmarkDatabase BenchmarkWorkstation Benchmark
System Software & Drivers
OS	Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Service Pack 1
Platform Driver	Intel Chipset Installation Utility 7.0.0.1025
Graphics Driver	Default Windows Graphics Driver

We used three different hard drives for this article : A Samsung Spinpoint T166, Seagate’s Barracuda 7200.10 and a Western Digital WD3200JD. All of them hold 320 GB each.

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Manufacturer	Samsung	Seagate	Western Digital
Family	SpinPoint T166	Barracuda 7200.10	WD Caviar SE
Model Number	HD321KJ	ST3320620AS	WD3200JD
Capacity	320 GB	320 GB	320 GB
Rotational Speed (RPM)	7200	7200	7200
Platter	2	2	3
Interface	SATA/300	SATA/300	SATA/150
Cache (MB)	16	16	8
NCQ	yes	Yes	yes
Warranty	3 years	5 years	3 years

RAID Controller : Areca

Areca’s 1680ML series provide high I/O performance and very good throughput for up to six drives. Have a look at our RAID Scaling Charts for more details.

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Patrick Schmid was the editor-in-chief for Tom's Hardware from 2005 to 2006. He wrote numerous articles on a wide range of hardware topics, including storage, CPUs, and system builds.

1 Comment Comment from the forums

Typically, I'd say, run RAID-1. When it's time to upgrade, get two more identical drives, plug-em in and set up another mirror. Then, for Windows, delete your system hdd from the device manager and reboot to a Norton Ghost CD (assuming it supports your raid controller). Clone the partitions to new mirror. Power off, remove old mirror, boot to a new mirror. It will most likely re-detect the new mirror and request a re-boot, after that you're good to go on. Old drives can be wiped and sold on e-bay. Or turned into a backup volume.
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