Raid Setup SSD

Bin Boy · 30 Sep 2007 at 22:50

Whats the best way to set up a raid of these drives on a PC that as only sata raid?

Samsung MC8DE16G5APP-0XA00 16GB 2.5" Solid State Hard Drive

I would need two Startech 2.5" to 3.5" IDE Hard Drive Cable Adapter too.

Perhaps some sort of IDE Raid (Ultra ATA 133 PCI RAID ), but would i lose any speed going through PCI?

And what would be the best way to fit them in a PC case?

summary

2x Samsung MC8DE16G5APP-0XA00 16GB 2.5" Solid State Hard Drive
2x Startech 2.5" to 3.5" IDE Hard Drive Cable Adapter
1x Ultra ATA 133 PCI RAID

Job Done?

semi-pro waster · 30 Sep 2007 at 23:06

In theory that should all work together and the speed loss due to PCI should be negligible if any because the bandwidth should be enough. I think some sort of custom arrangment would be best, perhaps suspending the drives with elastic cord - obviously not for the noise but simply because it is most likely to hold them properly complete with adapters.

Bin Boy · 1 Oct 2007 at 00:52

nice, thanks

Bin Boy · 2 Oct 2007 at 00:56

Well here goes it!

Just order the parts not all from OC'ers

2x 2.5 to 3.5 HDD Kit converts a 3.5inch bay to a 2.5 inch bay.
2x Samsung MC8DE16G5APP-0XA00 16GB 2.5" Solid State Hard Drive
2x Startech 2.5" to 3.5" IDE Hard Drive Cable Adapter
2x SATA to IDE Converter
1x Serial ATA RAID PCI

What would be better, keeping the array i have got now on the Nvidia raid controller mobo with the two seagates SataII and keep the SataII speeds!

And putting the raid SSD for boot up on the PCI controller or having the SGates on the controller and putting the SSD raid on the NVidia controller, i guess if i have problems with the card not picking up the controller card for boot up for some strange reason like they do, i might just go with the SSD's on the nvidia raid array.

bin boy

semi-pro waster · 2 Oct 2007 at 09:32

I'd try it the way you are suggesting initially, as I understand it SSDs are very good for fast access but not so good for sustained transfer speeds at the moment so running them off the PCI card makes sense. If the card doesn't get picked up on boot then obviously you don't have a choice about how to do it.

Bin Boy · 2 Oct 2007 at 19:50

again thanks

Bin Boy · 9 Oct 2007 at 22:38

Right-o that didnt work lol i guess the sata convertor just wasn't working as planned, so am going down the Ultra ATA133 PCI RAID card road.

I could boot up with the card when pluged straight in to the IDE socket but when adding the sata convertor, nope!

anyways, i need some advice about the sticker at the bottom of the cards,

Am i to take off the sticker on the bottom of these SSDs or leave them be?

my guess is that they are there for warranty, just like memory sticks? am not sure if they are needed and want to keep the chips cool and avoid any unnecessary heat.

semi-pro waster · 9 Oct 2007 at 22:42

I'd leave the stickers on, they are indeed probably for warranty purposes and will do no harm if you leave them where they are. Unfortunate that it doesn't work with the SATA adapters straight off.

Bin Boy · 9 Oct 2007 at 22:50

yeah i'll leave them on thanks, i also tryed everything, there was only one way the convertors could go on, other wise the bios or raid bios wouldn't pick them up.

The raid array on the PCI card just froze, but the nvidia managed to create an array but locked up during installing of winxp just after the raid drivers where loaded.

Testing the card on the IDE channel was working, the drive was formatted and tested, but once tryed with the sata convertor winxp wouldn't boot up.

Now if the post strike is over i'll get my card sent to me!