best raid options for a workstation pc

[Srikanth7]

hello tom's hardware , i have a doubt regarding RAID options for a desktop "workstation" pc .... i hav i7 3820,16gb vengence, asus p9x79 .... im presently using ocz vertex 3 128gb as my boot drive and im satisfied with the purchase ... but now i needed a bigger boot drive option with more stable as well as fast performance.

i need tom's hardware suggestions on this, i came to know that wd red is good for raid .. but what about wd caviar black ? are there any other better performing hdd's that are compatible for raid0 .... im not looking for sas driives they are out of budget.

 

[choucove]

A standard mechanical hard drive, even two in RAID 0, are not going to give you better performance than today's SSDs, even a slightly older generation like you have with the Vertex 3. Additionally, RAID 0 will be more susceptible to a full out failure because you have two possible drives to fail instead of just one. If you want the greatest performance and the greatest in fault tolerance then you need RAID 10, and the only way you will get a higher capacity and better performance than your current setup is to go with four 120 GB or greater SSDs in RAID 10. This is really going to push onboard SATA controller performance to the maximum of its capabilities so you might also have to consider a dedicated hardware RAID controller as well if you are serious about getting solid reliable performance.

 

[Srikanth7]

thanks choucove ... but i think a raid controller is not a budget friendly item to purchase (i donno how much they cost), can u suggest me a good raid card in a lesser budget like $200 if possible .. and more over 4 ssd's is really expensive for me ... there are no traditional hdds to use raid 10 ?

 

[Hawkeye22]

RAID works with both SSD's and HDD's. The difference is in performance. A single SSD is way faster than even a few hard drives in a RAID configuration. You asked for performance and reliability which is why choucove suggested 4 SSD's in RAID 10 vs 4 HDD's in RAID 10.

 

[Srikanth7]

RAID works with both SSD's and HDD's. The difference is in performance. A single SSD is way faster than even a few hard drives in a RAID configuration. You asked for performance and reliability which is why choucove suggested 4 SSD's in RAID 10 vs 4 HDD's in RAID 10.

Thans hawkeye .I understood that i hav to go for ssd raid from wat u said , and I know raid works with both of them ... all i needed is a low budget option ... thats why i asked toms for the possible low budget options .

 

[Hawkeye22]

I don't recommend RAID for a desktop. For servers and workstations (actually used for work) then I can see using RAID simply for the redundancy. If this is mostly a gaming rig, then I'd go for a single large SSD or HDD.

You'll probably get better suggestions if you tell us what this computer is mostly used for. Not all programs or applications require high performace drives.

 

[choucove]

My information was in general the option for getting the best performance and reliability, but I know it's anything but practical. In your particular situation, I'd have to say purchase a second identical Vertex 3 128 GB SSD, and set it up in RAID 0 if you need greater performance. The problem is, a single SSD is already a huge improvement in speed over a traditional hard drive and in most every situation except with huge data transfers or specific scenarios you will see no difference between once SSD and two SSDs in RAID 0. Further, RAID 0 increases your chances of losing all your data by twice, since you now have two drives that can fail instead of one. If one drive fails, ALL your data is lost. This is why RAID 0 is not going to be recommended if you value the data you have on your computer. The only way to get both, better performance and better resiliency, is going with more complex RAIDs which, as Hawkeye22 has pointed out, isn't really recommended for most home use.

 

[3Dgeo]

Hi, found this thread. And here people talk exactly what I'm looking for.

My situation is:
I have intel s5520sc workstation, 2 x intel 520 120 GB SSD in raid 0 mode (via intel raid technology).
It works fine for now, but I'm looking for good raid controller for 2 reasons:

1. My SSD is sata 3, but my mobo is just sata 2 (speed loss). I will add 2 more 120 GB Intel 520 SSD.
2. Want that raid chip do the raid calculations, not CPU.

Don't need to tell me that 4 SSD in raid0 is very risky. I think of that, I will not have important data on them, just OS, programs ect. I'm not afraid to lose them. I just need that system work fast.

So, can I simply get any raid controller suggestions ? $400 I think will be enough, if not - well, have to spent more

This may sound stupid... but one more question, is there a way to use raid controller as a simple SATA3 port? Without raid?

 

[choucove]

Hi, found this thread. And here people talk exactly what I'm looking for.

My situation is:
I have intel s5520sc workstation, 2 x intel 520 120 GB SSD in raid 0 mode (via intel raid technology).
It works fine for now, but I'm looking for good raid controller for 2 reasons:

1. My SSD is sata 3, but my mobo is just sata 2 (speed loss). I will add 2 more 120 GB Intel 520 SSD.
2. Want that raid chip do the raid calculations, not CPU.

Don't need to tell me that 4 SSD in raid0 is very risky. I think of that, I will not have important data on them, just OS, programs ect. I'm not afraid to lose them. I just need that system work fast.

So, can I simply get any raid controller suggestions ? $400 I think will be enough, if not - well, have to spent more

This may sound stupid... but one more question, is there a way to use raid controller as a simple SATA3 port? Without raid?

I have a system running with an Adaptec 6805 PCI-Express SAS RAID controller and haven't had any issues with it. They also have a card supporting four drives instead of eight, the Adaptec 6405, that is within your budget range. The main thing I would look for is a card supporting SATA/SAS 6 Gbps, running on a PCI-Express 2.0 x8 or PCI-Express 3.0 interface, and has onboard cache memory. And to answer your last question, yes you can set up individual drives without them being in a RAID array. Some controllers handle this differently. I know with the HP SmartArray controllers you have to make a single drive "initialized" for use by creating a RAID 0 array with just a single drive member, but I don't believe you have to do this on the Adaptec, you just initialize the drive as a single drive.

 

[3Dgeo]

This one is a bit cheaper but will be enough for me:
LSI LSI00198 MegaRAID SATA/SAS 9260-8I RAID-Controller

I basically need raid0 and raid1.

Few more things I need to know:

Do raid controller adds to booting time? If so - how match? (my on board raid tooks long time to boot)
Is it hard to set up raid? Can I setup raid0 and then install OS (set up raid via bios)?
Can I use different raid levels on same board same time? For example: 4 SSD in raid0, 2 HDD on RAID1, other 2HDD with raid1?

Sorry for noob questions, I only used intel embeded raid technology, dont like it for long boot time..

 

[choucove]

This one is a bit cheaper but will be enough for me:
LSI LSI00198 MegaRAID SATA/SAS 9260-8I RAID-Controller

I basically need raid0 and raid1.

Few more things I need to know:

Do raid controller adds to booting time? If so - how match? (my on board raid tooks long time to boot)
Is it hard to set up raid? Can I setup raid0 and then install OS (set up raid via bios)?
Can I use different raid levels on same board same time? For example: 4 SSD in raid0, 2 HDD on RAID1, other 2HDD with raid1?

Sorry for noob questions, I only used intel embeded raid technology, dont like it for long boot time..

Having an add-in RAID controller will add to your boot time. The length of time added varies greatly and depends upon the controller. My Adaptec adds about three or four seconds, which isn't bad for a RAID controller, but I know it's also not the fastest. And yes, you can configure your RAID arrays right in the BIOS configuration menu for the controller itself (similar to setting up RAID using the Intel RAID configuration utility in the BIOS.) And you can also set up multiple levels of RAID in different logical arrays on the same controller, such as what you are describing. Just be sure you have a controller which supports the number of drives you need. From what I have heard that LSI 9260 is a pretty well received RAID controller.

 

[3Dgeo]

This one is a bit cheaper but will be enough for me:
LSI LSI00198 MegaRAID SATA/SAS 9260-8I RAID-Controller

I basically need raid0 and raid1.

Few more things I need to know:

Do raid controller adds to booting time? If so - how match? (my on board raid tooks long time to boot)
Is it hard to set up raid? Can I setup raid0 and then install OS (set up raid via bios)?
Can I use different raid levels on same board same time? For example: 4 SSD in raid0, 2 HDD on RAID1, other 2HDD with raid1?

Sorry for noob questions, I only used intel embeded raid technology, dont like it for long boot time..

Having an add-in RAID controller will add to your boot time. The length of time added varies greatly and depends upon the controller. My Adaptec adds about three or four seconds, which isn't bad for a RAID controller, but I know it's also not the fastest. And yes, you can configure your RAID arrays right in the BIOS configuration menu for the controller itself (similar to setting up RAID using the Intel RAID configuration utility in the BIOS.) And you can also set up multiple levels of RAID in different logical arrays on the same controller, such as what you are describing. Just be sure you have a controller which supports the number of drives you need. From what I have heard that LSI 9260 is a pretty well received RAID controller.

Thank you very match for your help.