question about raid cards

rjpogi · Jul 5, 2005, 09:01 AM

i've been planning to buy a raid card because i've read that they can increase the performance of your hard disk, but sadly i have no idea how it works....
so......
does buying a raid card really increase the speed of HD read?
is it simple as putting the correct IDE cables and let it run?
is it really safe and worthwhile?
i hope somebody can help me with this, thanks in advance guys

rjpogi · Jul 5, 2005, 09:25 AM

bump bump

mkk · Jul 5, 2005, 09:29 AM

First you'll need two or more identical drives to make good use of a RAID interface card or onboard equivalent. Then you'll need to decide what RAID mode that fits your need the best. The cheapest cards can do RAID-0 and RAID-1 well enough to be useful, bringin in either increased performance or increased data safety respectively. The more expensive "real hardware" RAID cards can do more advanced modes that often require more than two drives and sometimes a little better performance than the cheapest cards through lower CPU usage. But if you're new to RAID then your first decision will be whether or not you'll go for it at all.

Some technical info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redunda...ependent_disks

rjpogi · Jul 5, 2005, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkk

First you'll need two or more identical drives to make good use of a RAID interface card or onboard equivalent. Then you'll need to decide what RAID mode that fits your need the best. The cheapest cards can do RAID-0 and RAID-1 well enough to be useful, bringin in either increased performance or increased data safety respectively. The more expensive "real hardware" RAID cards can do more advanced modes that often require more than two drives and sometimes a little better performance than the cheapest cards through lower CPU usage. But if you're new to RAID then your first decision will be whether or not you'll go for it at all.

Some technical info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redunda...ependent_disks

wow that was quick, hehehe thanks mkk!

rjpogi · Jul 5, 2005, 09:42 AM

btw what if my HD is 120 and the other is 80 gb? will RAID-0 config still work??

mkk · Jul 5, 2005, 09:59 AM

It might be possible to set it up that way, but it wouldn't work as intended with different sizes. Preferably the drives should even be of the same make and model.

Matth · Jul 6, 2005, 05:30 PM

A RAID of a 120GB and an 80GB, might work as 80+80 and forget 40GB of the 120.

Typical RAID modes are:
JBOD "Just a bunch of disks" - no limitations, and no RAID function - simply using the controller to clear the drives from the system IDE (as optical drives work better with system IDE).
RAID 0 "stripe" - alternates data between the two drives, combining throughput, but doubling the drive failure risks.
RAID 1 "mirror" - replicates data on both drives, no increase in capacity, but a self-backup for drive failure. May provide a performance improvement in reading, as reading /seeking can be dispersed between the two drives.

A RAID controller, like SATA, is not a magic bullet for performance, and two drives with realistic sharing of workload (including swapfile, if the swap activity is significant) can work as well or better than RAID.

Jul 5, 2005, 09:01 AM	#1
rjpogi DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Seoul-Tokyo Connection Posts: 235 Rep Power: 0	question about raid cards i've been planning to buy a raid card because i've read that they can increase the performance of your hard disk, but sadly i have no idea how it works.... so...... does buying a raid card really increase the speed of HD read? is it simple as putting the correct IDE cables and let it run? is it really safe and worthwhile? i hope somebody can help me with this, thanks in advance guys __________________ AMD 64 +3000 Venice 2 Infineon 1 gig PC2700 333Mhz DDRAM ECS Elite nForce3a Mobo Seagate Barracuda 120GB HD SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS Inno3D Geforce 6600 AGP

Jul 5, 2005, 09:25 AM	Thread Starter #2
rjpogi DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Seoul-Tokyo Connection Posts: 235 Rep Power: 0	bump bump __________________ AMD 64 +3000 Venice 2 Infineon 1 gig PC2700 333Mhz DDRAM ECS Elite nForce3a Mobo Seagate Barracuda 120GB HD SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS Inno3D Geforce 6600 AGP

Jul 5, 2005, 09:42 AM	Thread Starter #5
rjpogi DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Seoul-Tokyo Connection Posts: 235 Rep Power: 0	btw what if my HD is 120 and the other is 80 gb? will RAID-0 config still work?? __________________ AMD 64 +3000 Venice 2 Infineon 1 gig PC2700 333Mhz DDRAM ECS Elite nForce3a Mobo Seagate Barracuda 120GB HD SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS Inno3D Geforce 6600 AGP

Jul 5, 2005, 09:29 AM	#3
mkk Cthulhu/Dagon 2012 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 4,490 Rep Power: 132 System Specs	First you'll need two or more identical drives to make good use of a RAID interface card or onboard equivalent. Then you'll need to decide what RAID mode that fits your need the best. The cheapest cards can do RAID-0 and RAID-1 well enough to be useful, bringin in either increased performance or increased data safety respectively. The more expensive "real hardware" RAID cards can do more advanced modes that often require more than two drives and sometimes a little better performance than the cheapest cards through lower CPU usage. But if you're new to RAID then your first decision will be whether or not you'll go for it at all. Some technical info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redunda...ependent_disks

Jul 5, 2005, 09:59 AM	#6
mkk Cthulhu/Dagon 2012 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 4,490 Rep Power: 132 System Specs	It might be possible to set it up that way, but it wouldn't work as intended with different sizes. Preferably the drives should even be of the same make and model.

Jul 6, 2005, 05:30 PM	#7
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	A RAID of a 120GB and an 80GB, might work as 80+80 and forget 40GB of the 120. Typical RAID modes are: JBOD "Just a bunch of disks" - no limitations, and no RAID function - simply using the controller to clear the drives from the system IDE (as optical drives work better with system IDE). RAID 0 "stripe" - alternates data between the two drives, combining throughput, but doubling the drive failure risks. RAID 1 "mirror" - replicates data on both drives, no increase in capacity, but a self-backup for drive failure. May provide a performance improvement in reading, as reading /seeking can be dispersed between the two drives. A RAID controller, like SATA, is not a magic bullet for performance, and two drives with realistic sharing of workload (including swapfile, if the swap activity is significant) can work as well or better than RAID.