How would this work then? Sata II Raided with Sata

DarkShadow · 14 Jan 2006 at 01:14

Right guys, I'm running very low on HD space and I swear by Samsung HDs, they're very quiet and very fast.

Now i'm considering a Samsung SP2504C 250GB Sata II HD and I'm wanting to use it on my Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard. From the sticky and my understanding I'll have no issues running this drive as a normal sata drive.

So, Could I raid it with my 160GB Samsung spinpoint? (Sata)

If so, what would you guys recommend as a set up? Raid wise and any other advice and so on.

Thanks

smids · 14 Jan 2006 at 01:54

Depends on what RAID you want - I wouldn't advise a RAID0 with those two, I never do unless at least they are the same size. One disk might be slightly faster than the other (due to platter densities/improvements etc) and you would only get 160GBx2 = 320GB if you RAID0'd them. You might as well sell the 160 and buy another 250gb if that is the case. You might also have to force 150MB/s on the SATA-II sammy - not sure, but they should RAID0 fine as SATA-II only adds things, not change anything to the original SATA specs.

RAID1 - pointless as it is only redundancy and you need space, not mirrors.

So yes, you can RAID0 them if you want, but I don't advise it, RAID1 is worthless to you realistically and your board has no other RAIDs.

I would consider copying the [useful] data over followed by selling your 160GB and buying a cheap 36Gb raptor for windows and games. If not, just use one as a windows/OS/games drive all partitioned up, and the other as a storage drive.

DarkShadow · 14 Jan 2006 at 02:09

So what would you think to two 250GB Sammy's in RAID0? Would it be a lot more reliable?

I'm just thinking through the possibilties of facing some problems due to raid'ing the hard drives as just normal sata.

Is it correct in my understanding that RAID drivers are usually quick but also more prone to death, as say one drive dies, the other goes with it?

smids · 14 Jan 2006 at 02:14

dark_shadow said:
So what would you think to two 250GB Sammy's in RAID0? Would it be a lot more reliable?

I'm just thinking through the possibilties of facing some problems due to raid'ing the hard drives as just normal sata.

Is it correct in my understanding that RAID drivers are usually quick but also more prone to death, as say one drive dies, the other goes with it?

Your understanding is spot on. One drive dies in RAID0 = dead array. The most reliable RAID0's in my eyes are seagates (generally the most reliable drives) or WD Raptors. But nothing is ever certain so unless you have a third drive for the important data, it's not worth the risk for the speed gain.