4 raptors in raid 0?

SlntAgent · Mar 10, 2006

ok...i have 2 raptors in raid 0 right now..they scream...yesterday i was given a decent computer...(i was going to strip it and sell its parts) to my amazement i crack open the case and see 2 more raptors in there...i tested and they work great...so i guess my question is...is there any benefit with having 4 raptors in raid 0??? or should i put 2 raid 0 arrays???

NeoN068 · Mar 10, 2006

I would go with a RAID 0+1

SlntAgent · Mar 10, 2006

"+1"???

sry im learning about raid right now..so be gentle

NeoN068 · Mar 10, 2006

adds a redundancy by keeping your RAID 0 (striping) and adding RAID 1 (mirroring) so if something happens to one of the drives, your system falls back onto RAID 0.

http://www.acnc.com/04_01_0_1.html to learn more

SlntAgent · Mar 10, 2006

ahh ok...i understand now..thanks

well im not to big on redundancy because i have anything important on my laptop..so im basically looking for the fastest speed available..figured 4 raptors would do it!??

attack · Mar 10, 2006

0+1 would diminish performance but add redundancy...if your backing up the RAID 0 then no need.

As for multiple drives on RAID 0...you get diminishing returns and will eventualy get worse performance. If you have one controller that has 4 ports then it might be worth it, but a lot of boards have 2 different controllers onboard but use chipset/software to allow for RAID on 4 channels.

I wouldn't think the performance gain is worthwhile...I think you'd be better off selling your raptors and buying 15k U320 maxtor atlas drives or whatever the best SCSI is out there.

JCLW · Mar 10, 2006

Or SCSI/SAS. But that's $$$

I run four 74G Raptors, and have tried various RAID levels (0, 1, 10, 5) and stripe sizes. In the end I settled on RAID 0, with a 16k stripe.

I find RAID 0 is noticeably faster then RAID 10 if you are working with large files and/or multitasking. Since you are using a different controller your results may vary.

Like you I keep my data on another computer, in my case a RAID 5 file server.

SlntAgent · Mar 10, 2006

as far as i know the 4 sata plugs on my mobo (see sig) are on one controller..so i think im good to go there..yeah i think ill just sell my 2 extra raptors..maybe buy 2 new 150 gig ones.

JCLW · Mar 10, 2006

Four 74Gs will be faster then two 150Gs.

http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=raptor150raid&page=1

ffzen · Mar 10, 2006

JCLW said:
Four 74Gs will be faster then two 150Gs.

http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=raptor150raid&page=1

Also of note in that review is that they use an expensive Areca's arc1220 controller...goes for almost $600 ! on Newegg

JCLW · Mar 10, 2006

Their four drive 74G HDtach scores are nearly identical to my my ICH7R southbridge scores, with the exception of the burst rate.

The nF4 should be right up there too.

The main reason the Areca is so expensive is because of the hardware RAID 5 XOR engine, and the eight ports.

SlntAgent · Mar 10, 2006

so whats the verdict? sell em or put them in as raid 0?

Revivalist · Mar 10, 2006

Honestly, I have no clue how gamepc.com got 263MB/s sustained transfer rate with 4x74 Raptors. (See here.) I guess it's it's due to that Areca's arc1220 controller that was mentioned above. . . .

My 4x74 Raptors get about 220MB/s sustained read speed in HD Tach. I also tested them in pairs and get about 120MB/s for 2 Raptors. (There was only a difference of 0.1-0.2 in the seek time.) So there is obsviously an increase in performance going from 2 to 4, but it's also true that the law of diminishing returns is at work. Since each Raptor has a theoretical transfer speed of 72MB/s, we can see this as follows. . .

For 4 Raptors: The theoretical max would be 4 x 72MB/s = 288MB/s. Since I'm getting 220MB/s then that means I have 220/280 x 100% = 76% of the maximum theoretical performance.

For 2 Raptors: The theoretical max would be 2 x 72MB/s = 144MB/s. Since I get 120MB/s then that means I have 120/144 x 100% = 83% of the maximum theoretical performance.

(And just to complete the argument, I happened to test the drives individually as well and got an average of 65MB/s. This translates to 90% of the theoretical maximum.)

So we see the law of diminishing returns at work. However, there is also clearly a performance boost going from 2 to 4 (at least according to HD Tach). I didn't take the time to run with 2 Raptors for a while to see how the "feel" compares to running with 4 Raptors, or to do any stopwatch measurements. . .

I would post screenshots for all these results but my system is taken apart right now for some upgrades.

Revivalist · Mar 10, 2006

SlntAgent said:
so whats the verdict? sell em or put them in as raid 0?

I say RAID 0!! . . . But I'm sort of a HDD performance freak.

SlntAgent · Mar 10, 2006

ok then guess i will be reformatting this weekend

Revivalist · Mar 10, 2006

SlntAgent said:
ok then guess i will be reformatting this weekend

YES!! . . . Change that "dual" to "quad" in your sig!

. . .

And let us know your bench results when you're up and running.

JCLW · Mar 10, 2006

Revivalist pretty much covered what I was going to say. I get 220~230MB/s sustained with mine.

By "Sustained Transfer Rate" I gather GamePC was using what HDtach calls "Average Read".

Revivalist · Mar 10, 2006

JCLW said:
Revivalist pretty much covered what I was going to say. I get 220~230MB/s sustained with mine.

By "Sustained Transfer Rate" I gather GamePC was using what HDtach calls "Average Read".

Nice results JCLW! . . . .

Yes, I believe "Sustained Transfer Rate" is the same as "Average Read" in HD Tach.

4 raptors in raid 0?

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