RAID configurations

keyser

keyser

keyser

Associate
Joined
23 Aug 2005
Posts
1,274
Hi

Is RAID0 everything a good idea? :)

Say I got 2 to 4 HDs for data and backup. What's the best RAID configuration if I want both performance and reliability?
eg.

RAID 0 Data
RAID 0 Backup

or

RAID 5? That's 2 hds + 1 parity? But is more redundancy, not backup as Anandtech pointed out a while ago..
or something else?

What do you guys use?
 
I use RAID 5 at home I did try RAID 10 but never really noticed a difference.

Personally I would RAID 5 is across 4 disks if you have them :)

Stelly
 
Hopefully the following helps:

RAID 0 - is great performance but very easy to loose data if you loose one disk

RAID 5 is good, but its has write performance hit due to parity. However, its also good for redundancy. It allows you to loose a single drive and the data remains intact.

RAID 10 will give you the best performance, but also the most costly of the 3. It also allows for multiple disk failures.

At home I run RAID-Z, which technically is RAID5 without little problems. i.e RAID 5 write hole (However, the chances of this ever happening are tiny. I think you have more chance of winning the lottery. :p)
 
Last edited:
Raid 0 is definitely the best in terms of performance but do remember that if one drive fails, everything is gone.
Id personally still use Raid 0. HDDs (for me at least) never fail for me.
 
The trouble with using RAID5/6/50 or any of the "enterprise" configs is that you typically encounter issues if you try and use them with the built-in RAID functionality of your southbridge.

Typically, you'll find the following:
1) terrible performance
2) If your mobo dies, unless you get another incredibly similar one, you may well lose all your data. This is also true with RAID0 or RAID10 configs in many cases.

If you want to go RAID5/6, use a decent hardware raid card like a 2720SGL.


If you don't want to do that, your best answer IMO is to:
Use RAID1 (2 drives) or two separate RAID1 arrays (4 disks). If your controller then dies, you can just plug any one disk into a standard ATA/AHCI interface and get to your data without issue. The performance gains from using RAID10 over RAID1 are minimal unless you're using massive files all the time.

You can go RAID0, but if you do, make sure that you are taking a regular backup - once it's gone it's gone.

Whatever you choose, DO make sure that you are taking a backup to external disk/network system/cloud or similar of at the very least your irreplacable files.
There is no subsititute for a good backup strategy.

HTH
Rob
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom