RAID question...

PH3N0M · Mar 14, 2009, 01:25 AM

I have a some questions.

What's the difference in RAID0 and RAIDo+1? I mean, is there any difference in performance? I'm asking because I've considered purchasing a 3rd Raptor for a Raid0+1 but, do I really need to?

I have room for (4) hard drives. Would it be better to have (2) Raptors in RAID0 or have (3) in RAID0?

I considered having (2) in RAID0 and purchasing (2) 1tb Caviars but, I don't download a lot of progs so, it would be wasted space. Maybe I should go with (4) Raptors?

Any advice and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Chaos · Mar 14, 2009, 01:42 AM

I suggest you do some reading on the different levels of RAID implementation before you go spend money on a 3rd Raptor.

Here's a good quick break down:

PCGuide - Ref - Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)

Mac Daddy · Mar 14, 2009, 01:49 AM

You could also go here a buddy of mine put this together. On RAID I am still a newbie I just edited it lol

Tech ARP - The RAID Guide

CDsDontBurn · Mar 14, 2009, 03:56 AM

a quick breakdown of RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 0+1 is that ALL drives need to be the same size. preferably all identical to avoid any hardware compatibility issues.

RAID 0: performance and increased capacity - if you have 2x 300GB drives, you have 600GB total usable space. Also, you have double the hard drive cache as well, faster read/load speeds. the downfals are decreased (at best they remain the same as a single drive) write speeds and also if one drive fails, you lose all your data. not ideal for backups or storage

RAID 1: data security - ideal for backups and data storage. no additional data storage is gained though. so, if you have 2x 300GB drives, you only have 300GB of total drive space available. if one drive fails, you still retain all your data. the data can be rebuilt upon inserting a replacement drive

RAID 0+1: combination of RAID 0 and 1 - this requires 4 drives. All 4 drives are stipped in RAID 0 configuration. the first 2 drives are usable, and the other two drives are the copies of the first 2 drives. if you have 2x 300GB drives, you still only have 600GB total usable space. unlike RAID 0, if you lose one drive, you still retain your data, but it needs to be rebuilt upon inserting a replacement drive.

RAID 5: a alternate combination of RAID 0+1 - Requires a minimum of 3 drives and for most end-user applications can be upto 5 drives. if you have 3 drives, 1/3 of each drive is used for redundancy. 1/4 if 4 drives and 1/5 if 5 drives are used for a RAID 5 configuration. so, if you lose 1 drive, you don't lose all your data. if you lose 2 drives, your data is gone. gives you the best performance to redundancy ratio if you're looking for redundancy and performance.

i'm sure that those links provided earlier go into much more detail than this quick run through i provided you here.

PH3N0M · Mar 14, 2009, 04:03 AM

CDsDontBurn, thank you for that brief explanation. You broke it down in laymans terms instead of all the technical b.s.. Seeing as I have (2) Raptors, and room for 2 more drives, what would you suggest?

Judas · Mar 14, 2009, 05:41 PM

imo.. your best solution though is raid 0 with say a backup drive that you manually PLACE the files you wish to have at all times on. Typically if anyone is worried about data protection... Raid 1 is the cheapest/best solution ... anyone that already has a backup strategy.. raid 0

Lowfat · Mar 15, 2009, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

imo.. your best solution though is raid 0 with say a backup drive that you manually PLACE the files you wish to have at all times on. Typically if anyone is worried about data protection... Raid 1 is the cheapest/best solution ... anyone that already has a backup strategy.. raid 0

Yup. RAID is never a alternative to a good off-site backup. A hard drive failure is one of the few many data loss can happen.

CDsDontBurn · Mar 15, 2009, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PH3N0M

CDsDontBurn, thank you for that brief explanation. You broke it down in laymans terms instead of all the technical b.s.. Seeing as I have (2) Raptors, and room for 2 more drives, what would you suggest?

with these two drives, RAID 0. but, like judas suggested, get another larger drive for your backups.

with RAID 0, you want to have the RAID 0 array as your OS for games, and programs and such...things that are essentially expendable and can be easily reinstalled...on your OS/RAID 0 array. then the other larger drive....i like to go with double the size of the RAID 0 array size or larger....will be for your documents, pictures, and anything else that cannot be replaced.

also like Lowfat said, as further protection against data loss, you'd want to burn this information onto a CD or DVD at the very minimum every 3 to 5 days (if data keeps getting added continuously) to ensure further data protection. this is what he meant by "off-site"

PH3N0M · Mar 16, 2009, 01:03 AM

Well, after reading all of this, I'll be using 3 Raptor X drives in RAID0 and a Caviar 500gb for storage and back ups. I don't need anything larger than 500gb because I don't download a lot.

Mar 14, 2009, 01:25 AM	#1
PH3N0M The Master of Sarcasm Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: The U.S. of A Posts: 348 Rep Power: 35 System Specs	RAID question... I have a some questions. What's the difference in RAID0 and RAIDo+1? I mean, is there any difference in performance? I'm asking because I've considered purchasing a 3rd Raptor for a Raid0+1 but, do I really need to? I have room for (4) hard drives. Would it be better to have (2) Raptors in RAID0 or have (3) in RAID0? I considered having (2) in RAID0 and purchasing (2) 1tb Caviars but, I don't download a lot of progs so, it would be wasted space. Maybe I should go with (4) Raptors? Any advice and suggestions are greatly appreciated! __________________ Last edited by PH3N0M; Mar 14, 2009 at 01:32 AM.

Mar 14, 2009, 01:42 AM	#2
Chaos Number Nine Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 5,269 Rep Power: 165 System Specs	Re: RAID question... I suggest you do some reading on the different levels of RAID implementation before you go spend money on a 3rd Raptor. Here's a good quick break down: PCGuide - Ref - Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)

Mar 14, 2009, 01:49 AM	#3
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 78 System Specs	Re: RAID question... You could also go here a buddy of mine put this together. On RAID I am still a newbie I just edited it lol Tech ARP - The RAID Guide __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Mar 14, 2009, 03:56 AM	#4
CDsDontBurn 127.0.0.1 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,458 Rep Power: 202 System Specs	Re: RAID question... a quick breakdown of RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 0+1 is that ALL drives need to be the same size. preferably all identical to avoid any hardware compatibility issues. RAID 0: performance and increased capacity - if you have 2x 300GB drives, you have 600GB total usable space. Also, you have double the hard drive cache as well, faster read/load speeds. the downfals are decreased (at best they remain the same as a single drive) write speeds and also if one drive fails, you lose all your data. not ideal for backups or storage RAID 1: data security - ideal for backups and data storage. no additional data storage is gained though. so, if you have 2x 300GB drives, you only have 300GB of total drive space available. if one drive fails, you still retain all your data. the data can be rebuilt upon inserting a replacement drive RAID 0+1: combination of RAID 0 and 1 - this requires 4 drives. All 4 drives are stipped in RAID 0 configuration. the first 2 drives are usable, and the other two drives are the copies of the first 2 drives. if you have 2x 300GB drives, you still only have 600GB total usable space. unlike RAID 0, if you lose one drive, you still retain your data, but it needs to be rebuilt upon inserting a replacement drive. RAID 5: a alternate combination of RAID 0+1 - Requires a minimum of 3 drives and for most end-user applications can be upto 5 drives. if you have 3 drives, 1/3 of each drive is used for redundancy. 1/4 if 4 drives and 1/5 if 5 drives are used for a RAID 5 configuration. so, if you lose 1 drive, you don't lose all your data. if you lose 2 drives, your data is gone. gives you the best performance to redundancy ratio if you're looking for redundancy and performance. i'm sure that those links provided earlier go into much more detail than this quick run through i provided you here. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Mar 14, 2009, 04:03 AM	Thread Starter #5
PH3N0M The Master of Sarcasm Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: The U.S. of A Posts: 348 Rep Power: 35 System Specs	Re: RAID question... CDsDontBurn, thank you for that brief explanation. You broke it down in laymans terms instead of all the technical b.s.. Seeing as I have (2) Raptors, and room for 2 more drives, what would you suggest? __________________

Mar 16, 2009, 01:03 AM	Thread Starter #9
PH3N0M The Master of Sarcasm Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: The U.S. of A Posts: 348 Rep Power: 35 System Specs	Re: RAID question... Well, after reading all of this, I'll be using 3 Raptor X drives in RAID0 and a Caviar 500gb for storage and back ups. I don't need anything larger than 500gb because I don't download a lot. __________________