Best Strip/Cluster Size?

[dja2k]

Hey guys,

I have a raid - 0 using two maxtor 7200 RPM 8MB CACHE SATA drives. I decided to try something different. I read about strip/cluster size and how changing it, might give you better transfers. Well I just wanted to know if that is correct and if it is really noticable. I see that I have a strip size of 64 k and well the defualt NTPS cluster size 4 K. Well I think that was a bad move, so do you think I might have to change that and make it something like 32 k strip raid-0 and cluster size 32 k. I usually work with movie files, copying dvd's, encoding dvd's, etc. What do you people suggest?

Thanks,
dja2k

[Vio1]

I wouldnt worry about it... stripe size and cluster size doesnt change load time...

[Sonny]

Depends on the controller you have & the controllers bios revision in relation to what you are using it for. For the larger file you work with I would even suggest a 128K Stripe specialy if you were on a ICH5R running those 7200RPM drives. If your using S.I., Promise or HighPoint you might want to try 16K or 32K.

With all the driver & BIOS combinations out there you might as well test as many configurations you can and by any means DO NOT USE NORTON GHOST to image the array & recover with it on any RAID0 setup. That will skew your results.

[dja2k]

I am using ICH5R on the asus p4p800 dlx. I don't remember what I put as the strip, but I do know it was the highest.

[gustav]

I wouldnt worry about it... stripe size and cluster size doesnt change load time...

it doesnt change load times for games, as you've showed us in your other thread, but he's working with large files (movie files, copying dvd's, encoding dvd's, etc.). Stripe size can affect the time it takes to transfer these large files a lot. Ive read that for large items like these, that a large stripe size is best. a low stripe size will simpy create thousands of queues for the drive.