Need help with raid

[topher0455]

ok the whole RAID thing confuses me, this is what im trying to do, i have a 64GB SSD, and 2 500GB HDDs, im wanting to connect all 3 drives using intels smart response technolgy (motherboard supported) could someone walk me through how i can do this. I know how setup the hardware, just sure what to do in the bios.

 

[Dereck47]

I know how setup the hardware, just sure what to do in the bios.

The ports that your HDD and SSD are connected to have to be in RAID mode in order to use Intel SRT.

 

[WyomingKnott]

Here's a simple answer: Don't do it. Install the OS and your apps on the SSD, and use the HDDs separately for data.

You will _never_ RAID an SSD and HDDs into the same array. Just don't. The SRT technology alllows the OS to set up a _small_ SSD as a cache for the HDDs, but then you lose the use of the SSD as a system drive. It was really meant for SSDs that are too small to run your system.

If you really, really want to do this, dedicate the SSD to caching the HDDs, and install the OS to one of the HDDs. Then let the caching drivers work their magic. Read this quick intro to setup: http://download.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/intel_smart_response_technology_user_guide.pdf

 

[topher0455]

thanks for help, what im looking for is maximum performance, so im guessing just installing windows and the programs i want to run faster on the ssd would result in better performance than SRT and install everything else plus data on the HDDs?

 

[WyomingKnott]

Yes. But the ssd won't make apps run faster, for the most part. They will load faster, and the OS will feel more responsive.

 

[topher0455]

ok, so install OS on SSD, everything else on HDD, my HDD is also SATA 6.0 Gbps. So in theory wouldnt that be just as fast as a SSD since it also has a 64MB cache as well?

 

[WyomingKnott]

In theory, no. HDD is much slower than SSD in random access, and look at your figures. The SSD is 64 GB. The cache is 64 MB. That's about a thousandth of the size.

My advice: don't install everything else on the HDD. Install whatever you want to load snappily to the SSD. Even for 64-bit Windows 7, you will have space left over on your SSD. Note that service packs and patches eat up a lot of space on your OS device over time, as they save rollback information. You may eventually want to look up how to remove this rollback information.