Please clarify how best to partition RAID 0 drive set up

[multimedia_me]

Hello,

I am sending back a new HP Pavilion high end performance system because it does not support a RAID 0 array.

I have a replacement order set up with a 2TB hard drive split into two 1 TB hard drives set up as RAID 0. -- Which I chose after watching an Adobe TV video that explicitly recommended this for optimal HD video editing.

I then read multiple web video editing forum posts NOT recommending RAID O - and saying it was a myth that it's faster, but it is much more risky (for obvious potential double disk data loss reasons).

So I became very confused as to whether my replacement order was going to need a replacement! :>

Anyway, I was glad to read the comment which I pasted below on this forum, since it validated the original Adobe TV recommendation to use a RAID 0 set up FOR HD multi-stacked-clip or composite EDITING.

I am willing to take the drive failure/data loss risk if it's truly worth it. IF so, please do specify how best to partition the drive for Adobe CS5.5 video editing (in PP & AE).

However, if it's equally speed-optimal to set up 2 separate internal hard drives as a scratch disk to edit on in CS5.5, and have a main drive just for applications, I'd probably opt for that set up instead. -- BTW, I'm assuming a RAID 0 can be set up as a single scratch disk fro Adobe editing aps, but I'm not entirely sure, since I'm a very recent convert from Final Cut Pro to Adobe for video editing.

I would love to get your opinion before I revise my replacement order.

(Specs: Intel 6 multi-core processor with high end new Nvidia Graphics card and 18 gig RAM)

...This is my once every 5 year update, so you can imagine how out of date my former system was. I also can not afford to make a major mistake.

IF the RAID 0 main drive/second drive split will truly create an enormous speed boast (and is not a myth), I would not mind taking the risk, but if getting an application dedicated main drive and 2 secondary RAID 0's will work as scratch disks for Adobe and be just as fast then I'd go that route. -- If so, what drive (brand/speed/size) would you recommend that I use for this set up?

Thanks very much in advance and I will eagerly await your insight!

______ ORIGINAL FORUM COMMENT PASTED BELOW:

"If you don't mind the risk and want better speed with booting up and opening programs, you can just use Raid 0 for the OS, Apps, page file and media cache. If you do this, you will definitely need to create a separate partition for the OS+Apps as C and a D partition for page file and an E partition for media cache. I can help you with the exact sizes of those partitions once we know the amount of ram and which Raid 0 or 1 for the OS+Apps.

I can also provide you with step-by-step instructions for setting up Raid on an Intel board as I have done so for several others."

 

[Outlander_04]

I am confused by some of your post .

"I have a replacement order set up with a 2TB hard drive split into two 1 TB hard drives set up as RAID 0. -- Which I chose after watching an Adobe TV video that explicitly recommended this for optimal HD video editing. "

One hard drive partitioned in to two ?
RAID 0 requires two or more drives working as one so some data from each file is written to one or other disk . The idea is to have two [ or more] read/ write heads accessing files at the same time ...... and it can speed boot and loading times .
The data loss risk comes because if either drive fails all the data on both disks is lost since each disk contains half of each file . That means that a 2 disk RAID 0 array is twice as likely to lose all your data , a three disk array 3 times as likely . etc
This is just the law of averages that some hard disks fail mechanically .

I think RAID 0 is probably not the best answer to speeding boot and loading times in 2011.
Solid State Drives [ SSD's] use memory chips rather than moving disks .
The OCZ vertex 3 series drives , or OCZ revodrive 2 will run many times faster than a RAID array .
Capacity is limited [ by cost] so most people use them as boot drives and storage for current projects , and add a back up hard drive or two for data storage .

And then again you may see little performance gain from either RAID 0 or an SSD . Neither will enhance encoding time . Just the time it takes to load the file before you can start working on it , and that is often the smallest part of the process

 

[puttsy]

Second the confusion of @Outlander_04. Are you looking to partition a 2TB hard drive into 1TB partitions and configure RAID 0 that way? If yes, you will see a drastic DECREASE in performance. If you have two, 2 TB drives you intend to configure in RAID 0, you WILL see a performance increase however, you will not see a HUGE difference in performance. Also, if you set-up a RAID 0 with your two, 2 TB drives, if one of them fails, they might as well both be toast. I would simply forego the RAID configuration at this point and just use the drives individually. Or,, setup a RAID JBOD config to keep your data safe.

Honestly, keep your HP and remember that the people that benefit from the configurations you heard about on "Adobe TV" are professional users working with MASSIVE amounts of RAW, HD video. (2 TB isn't even close, heck, 4 TB gets blown past by those studios)

I will recommend getting a SSD to install your OS and the Video editing solutions you use on. THAT will give you MUCH greater performance than the RAID 0 setup you were thinking of...

Hope it helps.

 

[multimedia_me]

Thanks, guys! Sorry for the confusion. What I meant was two raid drives sold and acting as one Raid 0 array in a prebuilt.

I changed the replacement order. It only took an hour of holding and some minor haggling, but I'm relieved that I did not go with the "two raids as one" option.

I will save your replies for the very useful information about other drive options.

I also found an extremely helpful video clip about this subject on vimeo. It doesn't always load, but I'd highly recommend it to anyone that may land here after a google search on this topic. It's very informative.

http://www.video2brain.com/en/videos-5353.htm