Setting up RAID 0 in my current config!!!

[JaSoN_cRuZe]

My Windows is installed and running on a 1 TB Seagate
Now i'm going to buy two 2TB Seagate HDD's to extend my storage.(non-availability of 4TB)
Is it possible for a RAID 0 configuration of the two new drives with the exsisting 1TB seperately for bumped performance in the new drives?
and also how to configure my new disk drives as RAID 0?

 

[heinzvilem]

Yes it is possible to add just those two to RAID 0. I did not make some extensive research, but instead I put first guide I found online with faith that you can google up more on this topic if necessary, since it looks pretty much well covered.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/132877/RAID.html

Be wary that one disk failure could lead to failure of the whole RAID 0 and if you want extra speed you want to go stripping (not linear, since that will just put one disk after the other one - which will not give you any speed at all, but is probably safer). Though stripping will mean that data are scattered across disks so you cant really say what is on which disk - hence failure of one disk is that much of a problem. So if you would not opt for extra speed I wont see reason why to set this up and would leave it as two separate disks (I have 4 separate disks at my PC as well, also nice for organization I guess ).

Personally if you want speed I would suggest going for SSD (will boost your speed more than this for sure). I don't find RAID 0 good idea from many other reasons I did not mention. The speed boost is also not +100% because of other technicalities.

 

[JaSoN_cRuZe]

Yes it is possible to add just those two to RAID 0. I did not make some extensive research, but instead I put first guide I found online with faith that you can google up more on this topic if necessary, since it looks pretty much well covered.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/132877/RAID.html

Be wary that one disk failure could lead to failure of the whole RAID 0 and if you want extra speed you want to go stripping (not linear, since that will just put one disk after the other one - which will not give you any speed at all, but is probably safer). Though stripping will mean that data are scattered across disks so you cant really say what is on which disk - hence failure of one disk is that much of a problem. So if you would not opt for extra speed I wont see reason why to set this up and would leave it as two separate disks (I have 4 separate disks at my PC as well, also nice for organization I guess ).

Personally if you want speed I would suggest going for SSD (will boost your speed more than this for sure). I don't find RAID 0 good idea from many other reasons I did not mention. The speed boost is also not +100% because of other technicalities.

I have the 1TB which i use as my primary and another 1TB external for critical data resources so i think it will be feasible to do a RAID 0 configuration.
Yeah SSD's are much more reliable and faster but they tend to be costly and electronics are already priced heavier in my place.
Can we raid configure the 1TB and 2TB so that i can use my other 2 TB for critical data resources? is that possible?
So if it is possible i can have 3TB critical data (1TB ext,2TB HDD) and 3TB striped data(1TB,2TB HDD).

 

[J_E_D_70]

Speed for what? If your OS is still on the 1TB then booting, virus scans, etc stay same speed.

You now need a 4TB external backup drive as a single failure on either drive breaks the array. Without a backup you get to reload 4TB from scratch.

As stated above, SSD is better speed increase for about everything. But you need to back that up too if theres anything important on it.

 

[J_E_D_70]

Uh... not really. Raid volumes need to be the same size.

If you want some redundancy then it's raid 1 mirror. But even THAT needs to be backed up (not synched) since if you accidentally delete an important file the mirror deletes from both drives.

 

[USAFRet]

Can we raid configure the 1TB and 2TB so that i can use my other 2 TB for critical data resources? is that possible?
So if it is possible i can have 3TB critical data (1TB ext,2TB HDD) and 3TB striped data(1TB,2TB HDD).

No.
1TB + 2TB + RAID 0 = 2TB RAID array.

What is the desire for the RAID array? It does not add any drive space more than the actual drives you have.
And adds significant fail potential.

 

[JaSoN_cRuZe]

Can we raid configure the 1TB and 2TB so that i can use my other 2 TB for critical data resources? is that possible?
So if it is possible i can have 3TB critical data (1TB ext,2TB HDD) and 3TB striped data(1TB,2TB HDD).

No.
1TB + 2TB + RAID 0 = 2TB RAID array.

What is the desire for the RAID array? It does not add any drive space more than the actual drives you have.
And adds significant fail potential.

Then i can only add two 2TB HDD's in RAID 0 for better performance and less reliability OR just have 2 separate HDD's with better reliability
I just wanted to get better read-write from the HDD's for loading and installing AAA Titles.
SSD are way to go for performance but 250GB SSD is not feasible against 4TB HDD when comes to cheap storage.
So i can put two 2TB HDD's in RAID 0 right? just for confirmation.
I heard RAID 0 improves twice the performance of the HDD that's why i wanted it.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, you can RAID 0 the 2 x 2TB drives.
But it won't be 'double', and it would still be slower than an SSD. And at the expense of complexity and fail potential.
And depending on exactly what you're doing, the increased performance may not be noticeable anyway.
Benchmarks may look awesome. But realworld perf may not increase as much as you hope.

And the only thing it might benefit is level load times.

Personally, I would just leave them as individual drives.

 

[heinzvilem]

I can't but agree with USAFRet. Believe me in the end (if you decide to buy SSD) you won't regret. Once you go SSD you can't go back. Also 2TB disk is around of price 250GB SSD so buy one 2TB and one SSD and you are good to go on the storage side and speed for system and games you just play. I use my SSDs to move games I currently play on it (for example in steam library) and once I finish the game I either move it back to HDD so I can get back to it anytime just by moving it back (my internet is only around 50Mbit/s) or delete it.

GL with RAID 0 if you will still decide to go for it, but I feel like it will only bring problems.

 

[J_E_D_70]

Couple of things:
- not all games have long load times; put long load on a 250gb ssd and everything else on the hdd

- why would you need to have that many games loaded at once? Thru the miracle of Steam and Origin pretty much all games are available to easily install again

I game daily on a variety of games and do so on a single 250gb ssd. It gets tight sometimes but works fine.

Edit: I used to have a pair of 10k rpm Raptors in raid 0 and an SSD destroyed them on speed.

 

[JaSoN_cRuZe]

Thanks guys for the suggestions
It was really helpful
I was already planning on getting a 250gb SSD and a 2TB HDD but due to various price fluctuations in my place i have neglected them but maybe they are the better way to go...
Samsung 850 evo 7500K
WD green 240 GB is 6200K
Crucial Mx300 is 7500K
San disk SSD Plus is 7000K
All are 240 to 275 GB in range!!!

For my 2TB HDD
Seagate barracuda ST2000DM006 is 5K
Seagate SSHD is 8.5K
WD blue is 5K
WD black is 9K

So can you suggest me the best all-rounder out of these or any other options.
All are mentioned in Indian rupees.
Thanks
Awaiting for your suggestions!!

 

[heinzvilem]

This all really comes down to benchmarks I guess.

My suggestion would be go here:
https://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/high_end_drives.html
and put all the names into search and compare those. Also check some speed measurements on the internet maybe even some reviews and what I like to check as well is warranty. Sometimes I am willing to pay extra for that since when it breaks after 4 years they might not have old model and refund you full. Then you can upgrade a generation without paying extra penny or at least you had been sure the whole time that you are covered.

I personally think Samsung is decent in the last years but did not really check these specifically. For 2TB I would omit SSHD as an option. That system is a mess, trust me. (I have 2TB seagate and it is good)

 

[JaSoN_cRuZe]

This all really comes down to benchmarks I guess.

My suggestion would be go here:
https://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/high_end_drives.html
and put all the names into search and compare those. Also check some speed measurements on the internet maybe even some reviews and what I like to check as well is warranty. Sometimes I am willing to pay extra for that since when it breaks after 4 years they might not have old model and refund you full. Then you can upgrade a generation without paying extra penny or at least you had been sure the whole time that you are covered.

I personally think Samsung is decent in the last years but did not really check these specifically. For 2TB I would omit SSHD as an option. That system is a mess, trust me. (I have 2TB seagate and it is good)

Thanks I got the Seagate 2TB ST2000DM006 and Samsung 850 evo 250GB.

 

[heinzvilem]

Yeah I think probably best choice anyway. If you appreciated the help, please accept the solution.

Have a nice day.