Laptop RAID Help..

[glennsmithnv]

Hi all!

I’ve been browsing the forum and I was wondering how to configure the drives on my workstation because there’s 2 SSD & 1 Big HDD. I use visual studio the most for future reference.

Basic Specs:
(Xeon ‘4.10 CPU, 2 1TB SSD’s & 2TB HDD - a LOT of RAM)

I’m not sure the best way to set this up with a “laptop” workstation.

I was thinking of RAID 1 SSD’s for my data drive? & the OS going on the HDD? I know the boot times are slower with a HDD obviously but that doesn’t bother me.

OR

Should I make a main SSD drive and RAID 1 it? Redundancy is important to me but not EVERYTHING, so RAID 0 is an option I’ve been looking into. . for my main drive. I’ve heard it won’t really affect performance in 0?

So what are your opinions? Remember this is for optimum performance with Visual Studio. I code & compile 24/7.

Thanks in advance. I hope I typed that all correctly from my phone!

 

[USAFRet]

1. RAID 1 is not a performance enhancer, it is just mirrored drives.
It only brings physical drive redundancy. Does nothing for file security and backups.

2. RAID 0 with SSD's brings no real user facing performance enhancement.

 

[glennsmithnv]

Yes, I’m aware of RAID levels and what they do. That didn’t answer my question. I’m not looking to enhance performance or I’d do RAID0 with backups. VS has a noticeable difference with RAID0 btw. Yes, even with SSD’s ) not in real world apps no. I’m using this strictly for work.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, I’m aware of RAID levels and what they do. That didn’t answer my question.

"I’m not sure the best way to set this up with a “laptop” workstation. "

Individual drives.
No RAID.

OS and applications on one of the SSD's.
Data files on the other.
Anything that does not fit in the above, or does not need the SSD speed goes on the HDD.

IMHO, anyway.

 

[glennsmithnv]

I thought about that as well... so just leave the SSD’s the way they are? I have more than enough storage space but if a drive failed mid programming I’d die. That’s what I’m trying to avoid.


BUT

Your solution seems to be the most practical. I just have a question for you.. why not RAID 1 the SSD’s anyway? Since the speed is about the same?

Thank you for your responses.

 

[USAFRet]

I thought about that as well... so just leave the SSD’s the way they are? I have more than enough storage space but if a drive failed mid programming I’d die. That’s what I’m trying to avoid


BUT

Your solution seems to be the most practical. I just have a question for you.. why not RAID 1 the SSD’s anyway? Just curious.

A RAID 1 (with any drive types) is only beneficial if you really need uninterrupted 24/7 ops. Like if you were running a webserver, and actual downtime means lost sales.

It only wards off physical drive fail.
Does nothing for the more common forms of data loss. Corruption, accidental deletion, virus, etc.

If you can withstand a 30 minute recovery time, there are much better, safer, ways to protect your data.

Read here for my personal procedure:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3383768/backup-situation-home.html

I can recover any individual drive, or the whole system, from any day in the last 2 weeks.
A RAID 1 is simply "now". The user and the OS sees just a single volume. No going back.


And SSD's are pretty damn reliable.

 

[glennsmithnv]

Wow. Thank you for your input! If I RAID 0 the drives and store the backup / image on the SATA disc with other things. There’s a noticeable difference with it -occasionally for Visual Studio. Especially if they’re that reliable. I’m definitely not going for RAID 1. Thanks for helping me dodge that bullet.

If you don’t think the risk/reward is worth it for RAID 0 on the SSD’s with an updated image on the HDD.

I’ll just use 3 independent drives as you said in the first post.

Thank you again! Sorry for all the questions!

 

[USAFRet]

Wow. Thank you for your input! If I RAID 0 the drives and store the backup / image on the SATA disc with other things. There’s a noticeable difference with it -occasionally for Visual Studio. Especially if they’re that reliable. I’m definitely not going for RAID 1. Thanks for helping me dodge that bullet.

If you don’t think the risk/reward is worth it for RAID 0 on the SSD’s with an updated image on the HDD.

I’ll just use 3 independent drives as you said in the first post.

Thank you again! Sorry for all the questions!

A RAID 0 isn't worth it with SSD's either.
With HDD's, there was a nice speed bump. SSD's, not so much.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485.html

And the speed is the only reason you'd consider a RAID 0.

I have 6x SSD's in my main system, no RAID 0 in sight.

You'd do much better with your OS and applications on an SSD, and your working files on the other.

 

[glennsmithnv]

Thank you so much for your time and responses. Independent drives it is right now.