Raid 5 vs SSD

[ryn_90]

I am going to setup a new PC, these are the specs I am thinking of getting:

Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V
HDD: Crucial M4 vs (x3) WD Caviar Black or Both

I already have an SSD and I love the speeds I get with it, but I am not sure how I am going to setup my new system. I have never setup Raid before. I wanted to setup RAID 5 to have my data in a safe place, and if a HDD fails or I lose some data it can be recovered.

My questions?

Should I still get an SSD to install my programs on or should I just stick to the Raid 5 configurations which should give me faster read and write speeds anyway?

The Z68 motherboard has 2x SATA 6Gb/s ports and 4x SATA 3Gb/s ports. If I setup a raid 5 configurtion, won't I have different read and write speeds? therefore, should I worry about this and get a different board? are there any better boards for what I need?

Another question, should I just use Raid 1 and only get 2 disks?

 

[Robi_g]

put the 3 HDDs on the 3GB/s ports
SSDs are less likely to break than HDDs, why not a RAID 5 from SSDs?

 

[thently]

The SSD will be faster on all accounts it is not the throughput that slows down hard drives or the feel of speed it the access time and the hard drives are like 10 ms and SSD like .01 ms so that means each new file to be written can have up to 10ms of mait before the next file gets written this adds up if you are copying thousands of files... I would go SSD and maybe setup a windows backup to keep your files safe maybe?

Thent

 

[foscooter]

Rather than worry about RAID 5, why don't you just back up your data regularly. It's better and cheaper.

HDD in RAID are more prone to fail than SSD in RAID. And even HDDs in RAID won't beat a single SATA III SSD.

My recommended set up for you (just like mine):

1-SSD for boot/OS/Programs
1-HDD for Libraries (data/media inc. My Docs, Music, Pics, etc.)
1-HDD for Back Ups (using MicroSoft Sync Toy, Windows, and Norton back up utilities)

That cuts one drive.

 

[ryn_90]

put the 3 HDDs on the 3GB/s ports
SSDs are less likely to break than HDDs, why not a RAID 5 from SSDs?

It would be too expensive for the storage I need.

 

[ryn_90]

Rather than worry about RAID 5, why don't you just back up your data regularly. It's better and cheaper.

HDD in RAID are more prone to fail than SSD in RAID. And even HDDs in RAID won't beat a single SATA III SSD.

My recommended set up for you (just like mine):

1-SSD for boot/OS/Programs
1-HDD for Libraries (data/media inc. My Docs, Music, Pics, etc.)
1-HDD for Back Ups (using MicroSoft Sync Toy, Windows, and Norton back up utilities)

That cuts one drive.

That is another idea I had in mind, at the moment I am just using an SSD and an HDD. However for the new pc I wanted something better. From the ones you mentioned, I have used Microsoft Sync Toy, and the problem is (unless it's something which I missed) it does not seamlessly backup stuff (something like dropbox does) and you need to remember to back up, and knowing me I would forget to do that.

However, If there is something which I missed, this might be a good option and save me the trouble.

On the other hand, can't you use Raid 1 immediately? or not in case you accidently erase the file or get a virus?

 

[foscooter]

...I have used Microsoft Sync Toy, and the problem is (unless it's something which I missed) it does not seamlessly backup stuff...

Correct, you have to manually set it up AND run it to do the backups. But I like how I can choose what I want to back up and where. Then when I run it, it only backups up the files changed. And I can back up to a networked PC, too.

...can't you use Raid 1 immediately? or not in case you accidently erase the file or get a virus?

RAID 1 is NOT a viable backup! It only saves you in the event of hardware failure (i.e. SSD or HDD). Plus it backups up everything including viruses, adware, and malware. If you accidentally delete something, it's gone!

The Z68 motherboard has 2x SATA 6Gb/s ports and 4x SATA 3Gb/s ports. If I setup a raid 5 configurtion, won't I have different read and write speeds?

Use the SATA III 6.0Gbps port for the SSD. Use the SATA II 3.0Gbps ports for the HDDs, and Optical drive. Motherboard manufactures currently limit the number of native Intel SATA ports to 6: 2x6Gbps, 4x3Gbps. ANY add-on SATA controllers are cr@p (i.e. Marvell, JMicron, and ASMedia). The steal PCI connections, and are/were limited to 5.0Gbps. And have alot of other issues.

The only boards that currently support more than 6 native Intel SATA ports are X79 chipset boards, for the LGA 2011 CPU. And they are expensive. And no one makes them with the extra SATA ports (yet).

 

[tomatthe]

Do not try to run those wd black drives in a raid set that requires parity. You will have them consistently dropping out of the set and rebuilding.