SSD software RAID

[seb77]

Hi,

I am looking for a storage solution for video acquisition from a sCMOS camera. The camera outputs 8 MB images at up to 100 frames/s through a PCIe acquisition board. A critical requirement is to have at least 2 TB of storage since the movies are up to 40 minutes long. The read throughput is not critical in the application and the platform runs Windows 7 Entreprise.

The natural choice seems to be a RAID0 matrix of 4x 512 GB SSDs. Looking at performance/cost Samsung 840 pro basically tops the list.

I am wondering if I should go for hardware or software RAID. I have been told that most RAID boards are not designed for SSD since they do not properly handle TRIM and the computation overhead is virtually null for RAID0. The board I had in mind is the LSI 9260-4i (Samsung 830 256 GB are in the compatibility list but 840 pro 512 GB are not + I read about some compatibility issues with these latter drives).

I would, of course, be happy to spare the price of the RAID board so would Windows 7 software RAID be sufficient for this application (and compatible with Samsung 840 pro)? Advice, experiences? Links?

Best,
Sébastien

 

[gaborbarla]

Hi Seb,

Can you record at 25 FPS?

Can you use Compression?

100x 8MB is 800MB/s and no single SSD would keep up with that, I understand that is why you want to RAID 0 but maybe 4 SSDs will also drop frames at that requirement at times.

Gabor

 

[Nikolay Savov]

I`ll go simple - Windows 7 RAID 0 of 4 x 512 SSD
You don`t have redundancy when you use RAID 0 so i think is not worth to invest in HW Raid - supporting 1 , 5 and 10 and just using it for 0

You can check this link : http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/10/storage-spaces-explained-a-great-feature-when-it-works/

It`s something new and not so complicated to manage - just add new HDD when it`s needed

 

[seb77]

I need to record at 100 frames/s, without compression and with this format (2048x2048, 16-bit) this is for science imaging, not mainstream. The point is to find a RAID0 configuration (hard/soft) and SSD combination that will not drop any frame.

 

[seb77]

I have the same impression and I definitely do not need redundancy as the SSDs are used as a one experiment buffer. I would like to get some guaranty on achievable bandwidth and reliability of Windows 7 software RAID with 4x Samsung 840 pro (the tech guys selling the camera recommend LSI 9260-4i + 4 x Crucial m4).

 

[Nikolay Savov]

Then you can focus on REVO Drives - there was resent threat about that
Check this out : http://ocz.com/consumer/revodrive-3-x2-pcie-ssd
And you can RAID 0 x 2 of those
hows that ....

 

[popatim]

At that resolution you will use up just about the entire raid0 array with 1 movie. I'm guessing you know this already?

My concern is in how you will backup this "movie", and quickly, as once just 1 drive dies all the data will be lost. I would suggest skipping a raid card if your system can handle 8 drives and to go with a raid10

 

[seb77]

REVO drive looks good indeed. x2 would be a bit pricy but I will consider it, thanks!

 

[seb77]

Yes, as I said the RAID matrix would be used as a ONE experiment buffer. If a drive dies it will screw one experiment and we will replace it, no worries. Data will be backed up to a large data server with suitable redundancy after each experiment, the transfer time is not an issue. Does anybody ever tested a RAID setup that can handle the sustained write load I previously described?

 

[seb77]

I think I found a "cheap" and efficient solution:

http://www.rwlabs.com/article.php?cat=&id=779&pagenumber=10

I am thinking of:
- Concatenating two of such software RAID0 built with Samsung 840 pro 512 GB (instead of 256 GB drives)
- Building a x4 software RAID0 with the same drives.

My workstation is a HP Z820 (Intel C602 chipset, LSI SAS 2308, 8x SATA3 channesls), will it be compatible? Any thoughts?

Sébastien

 

[Nikolay Savov]

I think I found a "cheap" and efficient solution:

http://www.rwlabs.com/article.php?cat=&id=779&pagenumber=10

I am thinking of:
- Concatenating two of such software RAID0 built with Samsung 840 pro 512 GB (instead of 256 GB drives)
- Building a x4 software RAID0 with the same drives.

My workstation is a HP Z820 (Intel C602 chipset, LSI SAS 2308, 8x SATA3 channesls), will it be compatible? Any thoughts?

Sébastien

HP Zxxx seris it`s and workstation with more server modules but is not server
They are more like CAD power stations.
But Yes it`s very good build - i have closer look over Z620
I think you gonna run well with 4 SSD and i believe you focus this one :
http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/workstations/z820_features.html#.UYF5gRx_ORY

you have pleanty of storage ports and 8 SAS ports is down compatible to SATA

 

[popatim]

better make it 5x 840pros due to over provisioning.