Need help - Raid array....

waso_dude · 1 Jul 2007 at 11:53

Hi people,

I have arriving tomorrow, 2x 320gb HDDS i've currently got 1 other at the moment,

I was wondering what is the best way to raid these? I'm after fastest read time possible, not really to fussed about write. I'd prefer to just use the 2 new HDD, as i'd like to use the old out in a external caddy. But if its better that i use all 3 i will.

cheers

Warren

helmutcheese · 1 Jul 2007 at 14:24

Well for speed you could Raid0 the 2 new drives, you can Raid0 all 3 but ideally better with drives that match esp size but can still be done.

Are all 3 drives same ?.

Phil99 · 1 Jul 2007 at 15:02

Fastest read time + only using 2 drivers = RAID0. No redundancy though; you'd be looking at RAID5 using all 3 disks to get a decent read speed with redundancy, though the write speed could be absolutely dire depending on the controller.

waso_dude · 1 Jul 2007 at 15:41

okay, looks like raid 0, then

I'm using the nVidia controller on my mobo.

Hope fully will get me a sub 16sec into windows

schumi84 · 1 Jul 2007 at 16:12

I would like that tbh.

Got a RAID 0 array set up and didnt really notice a difference in Windows load up time which i was a bit disappointed with.

Everything else is excellent though,loading programs etc, u should be pleasantly surprised.

waso_dude · 1 Jul 2007 at 16:26

cooles

my current into windows is sun 20secs.

fobose · 1 Jul 2007 at 16:57

Surely using raid slows down the boot time because it has the RAID bios screen appear - adds about 5 secs on to mine, although I have to go through a second one too as my mobo is old and only got 2 ports on each controller ;(

helmutcheese · 1 Jul 2007 at 18:32

You normally dont time that even though you have to wait longer possibily, you time boot up normally from whenWindows appears and the bar goins left to right, otherwise its not a fair way to compare as some bios screens take ages on some mobos.

fobose · 1 Jul 2007 at 19:54

I dont see the point in timing it at all then. Best way is just dont reboot eh

schumi84 · 2 Jul 2007 at 11:33

Lol, longest time i went without a reboot was when i was at Uni, left my computer on for about 7 days.
Only had a Gig of RAM but seemed to handle it fine when playing games etc.

waso_dude · 2 Jul 2007 at 12:29

mine goes off every night i can't sleep with it on....

ChrisD. · 2 Jul 2007 at 12:31

16 second boot time? You'd be lucky.

fobose · 2 Jul 2007 at 16:28

schumi84 said:
Lol, longest time i went without a reboot was when i was at Uni, left my computer on for about 7 days.
Only had a Gig of RAM but seemed to handle it fine when playing games etc.

My average uptime is usually atleast 2-3 weeks, and games never get a performance drop from leaving it on - the max is about 14 weeks tho, then win updates always get me.

waso_dude · 3 Jul 2007 at 08:36

okay guys back on track.

Im still confused?

Raid 1 or 2 will give me fast read times?

rpstewart · 3 Jul 2007 at 08:51

Neither. RAID1 is disk mirroring so reads are only as fast as a single disk. RAID2 is a theoretical exercise and isn't supported by any current controller.

For fast reads RAID0 is the usual choice.

Dutch Guy · 3 Jul 2007 at 15:13

Do not get RAID0 for faster boot times, you are mostly not limited by disk speed when booting and on my Nvidia system it adds an option at boot to go into the RAID options that adds a whopping 3 seconds to the boot time.