5400 vs 7200 RPM Drives in RAID5

[Dizzy49]

Is there a major speed difference between using 4x 5400 RPM drives, and 4x 7200 RPM drives in a RAID5 array?

Im considering the following drives:
HITACHI Deskstar 0S03230 3TB 5400 RPM SATA 6.0 Gb/s - $140
Western Digital Caviar Green WD30EZRSDTL 3TB SATA 3.0Gb/s - $150
Western Digital Caviar Green WD30EZRX 3TB SATA 6.0Gb/s - $170
HITACHI Deskstar H3IK30003272SW (0S03208) 3TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s - $180
Seagate Barracuda XT ST33000651AS 3TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s - $215

I will be using a RocketRAID 2720 card, Windows 7 64bit.
It's main function is streaming video to multiple locations (2-3 at a time), and secondary function is backup/storage.


I currently have 4x Samsumg F4 5400RPM drives, and every now and then there is stutter while streaming video. I do not know if it is because it is bottlenecked at the drives, lack of RAM (only 1GB currently), or what.

I would like to order some 3TB drives very soon, and I'm trying to determine if I should go with 5400 or 7200 RPM, and if I would gain any benefit with SATA 6.0Gb/s drives over 3/0Gb/s. It is a price conscious issue as there is a big price difference between the drives I'm considering.

I would greatly appreciate any input and suggestions!

-Dizzy

 

[tokencode]

There will be a significant difference in performance moving from 5400 to 7200 RPM drives everything else being equal. Please keep in mind that RAID5 is going to offer slower write performance than probably even a single drive although for streaming this will be primarily reads I would guess. Since this is the case it would probably make more sense to go with a high spindle count since throughput will be more important than access time. Have you considered something like 6x2.5TB 5400RPM? You can probably get this for around the same price, performance as far as throughput will be equivalent to 4x7200s and you'll get a lot of extra space for free. 2.5TB 5400 RPM - $109

Only have 1GB of RAM certainly could be your issue

 

[Dizzy49]

With prices and other things, I'm seriously debating getting a few more Samsung F4 2TB drives. I'm also trying to explore options on hardware raid cards. I believe the Highpoint RocketRAID is a software assist, and I believe hardware RAID cards are better for RAID5, and if I'm already looking at $250 for the card, what's another $100 😉

I was looking at the Norco 4220 case, and trying to figure out what else is required to get that to work. I've seen some interesting things done with it. While I don't consider myself a n00b when it comes to hardware, the server aspect is new, and I'm trying to figure out what backplanes, expander cards, and other cards are, and how they work with the case, and system to manage the array.

FireWire2 set up a 40TB array which was pretty nice, and I liked some of what he did, but I wasn't sure about the raid controllers he used.

Right now I think I'm going to buy two more Samsung F4s, and see if I can get more RAM. I'll use the drives as general storage now until I can figure out the best option for a 6+ drive array. I like the Norco 4220 since it can handle up to 20 drives, and 2TB drives are cheap ($70 + free shipping).

 

[FireWire2]

Dizzy49

If you want to use Windows as Home Server, then look at the WHS... and just use PM controller you can easily to expand the storage volume.

WHS has data recover, protection, expansion built-in

The 40TB i built base on FreeNAS, Atom proccessor and only consume 180W of power, and the MOST important factor is I do not want to deal with Windows virus/adware problems

As far as HDD concern Hitachi 3TB 5400rpm is more than enough for streaming via Gb Ethernet and it's lowest cost. You can get $119.00/ea via fatwallet

 

[Dizzy49]

Hi FireWire2!

I've considered FreeNAS a few times in the past. I had some REALLY bad experiences with linux many years ago and it's made me gun shy.

I really liked your build, and I had no idea you could merge the two ethernet connections together. I wondered why so many boards came with two. I would think that would be ideal for a streaming server.

Right NOW, my issue is that my current RAID card is full, and I need to add another 3-4TB. I was thinking I'd pick up 2x Samsung drives, but the real issue is that I need a card that will support 6+ drives. If I pick up a few of the Hitachi 3TB drives and add them to the raid I don't benefit from the additional TB, so I'd need to get a bunch of them to replace the raid array I have.

So, do I buy a new raid card, and 2x 2TB drives, or 4x 3TB drives... Hmmmmmmm.

While I mull over that, I think I'm going to take a serious look at FreeNAS. The reason I am using Windows now is because I use Remote Desktop to start torrent downloads, and then I unRAR everything once it's done. It's also extremely easy to set up sharing since all my systems run Windows 7 (except for the WDTV). I'll prob have to figure out how to reconnect the WDTV to it.

 

[FireWire2]

Dizzy49

I highly recommend to use the FreeNAS, It's SO EASY to use. Trust me! I do not know UNIX or LINUX

For home use, you don't need the Gb Bonding, here is why:
BD.ISO - Bluray Disc image bit-rate is about 60Mb/s max (small b)
Let assume you're going to stream five (5) streams, this mean you need 300Mb/s or 30MB/sec. Where your Gb is easily handle this so as the ATOM CPU

One thing I do not get, for home server every one keeps use i7, i5, i3, duo core. That is such a waste money and electrical
As I watch the CPU utilization when I stream four streams, it uses about 80% of the Atom CPU

Anyway, 30MB/s random read, it is very hard to archive with software raid5, base on my tests.

This is why i use the SPM394 hardware raid, this raid controller transfer about 85MB/sec @ random read/write.
Just plug to a SINGLE SATA port I can have up to 12TB raid5 (15TB raw) and I don't have to monkey around with drivers or any software for freeNAS (freeBSD) like other raid card (Note: as I said I have no clue in UNIX or LINUX).

The Mobo i use has 6x SATA port,this means I can expand up to 6x 12TB volumes (72TB protected data). Addition 4x lanes PCI e allows me to have another 8x SATA ports expansion, so total space I can have if I want to:

72TB - from Mobo, 96TB (12TBx 8 ports) from an add-in card. Grand total space 168TB

I think this it more than enough 🙂

As for the BT function, freeNAS also offers BT service. Here is the screen capture of FreeNAS Bit torrent

Down load a BT file, then open with FreeNAS BT - That's it, worry free about the virus or adware 🙂

 

[Dizzy49]

For home use, you don't need the Gb Bonding, here is why:
BD.ISO - Bluray Disc image bit ray is about 60Mb/s (small b)
Let assume you're going to stream five streams, this mean you need 300Mb/s or 30MB/sec. Where your Gb is easily handle this so as the ATOM CPU

Great info, thank you!

One thing I do not get, for home server every one keeps use i7, i5, i3, duo core. That is such a waste money
As I watch the CPU utilization when I stream four streams, it uses about 80% of the Atom CPU

I originally priced out an i3 based system myself. I USUALLY use a trickle down path for my hardware, and it would have received my old Core2Duo, but I added a wife and a kid to the path, so it's still on an old P4 2.0Ghz 😀 I think the board, video card, and PSU are about 8 years old.

I picked the i3 so it wouldn't be outdated quickly, as I hope to not need to upgrade it for many years. I then decided to go more low cost, and I had picked out a low cost/low power dual core AMD. I was looking at $200 for the board, CPU and 4Gb of RAM.

Anyway, 30MB/s random read, it is very hard to archive with software raid5, base on my tests.

This is why i use the SPM394 hardware raid, this raid controller transfer about 85MB/sec @ random read/write.
Just plug to a SINGLE SATA port I can have up to 12TB raid5 (15TB raw) and I don't have to monkey around with drivers or any software for freeNAS (freeBSD) like other raid card (Note: as I said I have no clue in UNIX or LINUX).

The Mobo i use has 6x SATA port,this means I can expand up to 6x 12TB volumes (72TB protected data). Addition 4x lanes PCI e allows me to have another 8x SATA ports expansion, so total space I can have if I want to:

In theory, I totally agree with you. Not having to mess with software and drivers is great! I'm just unclear on how it actually works.

You have 5x SATA drives hooked up to the SPM394, and you create a RAID5 array. Using 2TB drives it gives you an 8TB array, with the 1 drive tolerance.

Now if you have 4x SPM394 and 20x 2TB drives, you end up with 4x 8TB arrays, with 1 drive tolerance per array.
Calculating raw space, that's 32TB (with a theoretical 4 drive tolerance; but not really). If two drives on the same SPM394 dies, you're kinda screwed.

I read your post where you go through everything, and I'm pretty sure that's how it works. You then create a JBOD/RAID0 array from the 4x 8TB arrays.


While I haven't had two drives in my array die on me yet, I'm hesitant to go that route. I also don't like having to commit the additional drives without the added protection of a RAID6.

With the cost of the 4x SPM394s at about $220 each, and the cost of the two additional 2TB drives of $70 each (total of $1020) I would think you would be able to get a nice hardware raid card that would support 20+ drives and uses RAID6.

One thing that I DO like about your setup, is that it can grow with you. I don't exactly have $1000 to drop on a raid card, whereas I would be able to pick up a couple SPM394s.

I was looking into the HighPoint RocketRAID 2760. Supports up to 24 SATA 3.0/6.0Gb/s drives. I know it's not a true hardware RAID, but it's not strictly software either. I have an older one that I love and has been great for me. I get 54MB/s average reads with that array currently (51-66 range). (Tested by copying a file from the array to the system drive and looking at the speed)

72TB - from Mobo, 96TB (12TBx 8 ports) from an add-in card. Grand total space 168TB

I think this it more than enough 🙂

I learned a LONG time ago never to say that. I remember when 40Meg was insane and there would be no way I'd ever fill that! :lol:

As for the BT function, freeNAS also offers BT service. Here is the screen capture of FreeNAS Bit torrent

I did a quick search and saw that it has Tranmissions built in I believe. I will see if it can monitor directories and perform post-processing on the torrents. I know other solutions can. Right now I have a directory that is monitored so I can just drop a .torrent file in there, and it will start automatically. When it's done, it un-archives recursively (for those annoying times where some idiot ZIPs the .RAR files). If I can manage that, I think using FreeNAS will be a no-brainer.

 

[FireWire2]

I'm glad, that I can help!...

If you have the gear already, then use it, otherwise get Mobo with Intel NIC. For $200.00 you can get:

1x CPU integrate Mobo + Memory + 1x 3TB HDD. I'm a cheapskate

If two drives on the same SPM394 dies, you're kinda screwed...

The chance of 2 HDD failed at the same time, it is more remote than get hit by lighting in California (we do not have much of rain over here) For more the 16drives you should have an extra HDD as spare anyway, when the system beep, just replace the drive

Hardware raid card that would support 20+ drives and uses RAID6...

Here is 24x port HW raid It's 1349.00/ea. This enterprise card is way over kill for the Media Server. FYI i use this type of raid to set up a DAS to my client for HD editing

HighPoint RocketRAID 2760...

in FreeNAS, I have no clue how to manage it, but If you use Windows, then it's a different story
BTW HighPoint RocketRAID 2760 does not offer RAID6, two drives failed you still screwed. please note: Manage 8x hdd raid is completely different from manage 24x hdd, it requires lots more

So my solution still an attractive solution 🙂

The Transmission in FreeNAS is a Bit-torrent module. It has all kinds of controlling. It tells you the D/U rate, percent done, how many peers, etc... It's a full pledge torrent
Check it out

 

[Dizzy49]

Best answer selected by Dizzy49.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey