Bjorn3D.com: RAID: A Guide For All ... Part 1

[Anonymous]

Hi!

We have released a new Article called: RAID: A Guide For All ... Part 1.
Here is a small summary of the Article:"Most of the newer motherboards provide one or more onboard RAID controllers capable of delivering configurations up to and including RAID 5. My goal is to give our readers from beginner to expert a guide that will benefit them. .... "

You can find the whole Article here: http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=886

We would love to hear your comments about both the Article as well as the item we are reviewing in this thread.

Best regards
The Bjorn3D staff

[pym]

That seems like a great read.

I started reading and I sure will continue later on.
I always wanted to learn more about this subject but never really searched for info.
Now that all info is here in one place, I am sure I'll go over it!

Thanks a lot!

[zachig]

Thanks for a great article. This RAID issue was really needed. :D

I haven't read the article yet, but I'll surely read it later on.

I always wanted to learn deeply about the RAID configuration.

All I currently know is that there are RAID configuration like RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, etc. But I've never understood what it really means. :oops:

I guess that I'm currently running on "RAID 0" as I have only one Maxtor 120GB SATA Hard Drive. :(

I guess I'll be more interested in that RAID when I'll have my 2nd HD. :wink:

[Miles]

Enjoy! This guide was a lot of fun to write :D

[Neeko1]

Great Job..Miles Cheatam !

As a noobie in the world of Big Gaming System, my weakest link
would be hard drive storage. I'm about to build an (BGS), later this
summer. As of right now, I'm undecided about the (FX-62) or
(Conroe) ? but right now looking for information on raid. I'm thinking (3) WD rapter's 74 gig. Raid 0+1 ? Two in raid "0" for games, one in raid "1" operating system. I'm the noobie here,
so don't be shy... At first this should be enough storage. TX

[Miles]

Welcome to the forum Neeko1!

Sounds like you're definitely going in the right direction...Two things to remember: 1) The 200 GB Raptors are here, not that I'm trying to sell the product; but 148 GB might be a bit small for the entire system. I say 148 GB because I understand that you want to run the OS on one drive and your data in a RAID 0 array on the other two. If that understanding is correct here's some things to think about. First for what you have described you will need 4 drives. 2) Second, you will still have to back up the RAID 0 array which will not be mirrored if you put the OS on a separate drive that is mirrored.

Possibly the best solution is to go with the 3 Raptors exactly as you described. Get one large SATA drive (non-Raptor) either internal or external (this would be my preference) to back up both your OS drive and your RAID array using a product like Acronis True Image.

Also, stay tuned I will be reviewing an XFX product in the next week or two that is built particularly for gamers and may be exactly what the Doctor ordered in your case.

Good luck!

[Scott Sherman]

Also you may want to think of the new Seagate drives, with there price at less than .50 cents a gigabyte you could buy 3 or 4 and do a RAID 5. I think even with 4 you would still be cheaper than the Raptors and have a ton of drive space.

NVIDIA did a test for me a while back and if I added a 4th drive to my RAID 5 my read performance would go up 20%.

But as of right now I get a sustained 83MB's performance so a fourth drive would really give you even more performance.

Then all you have to do is partition the RAID into 2 drives one for OS and applications the other one fro DATA.


Just soemthing to think about.

[Neeko1]

Thank's for the welcome & repley. Just so were clear, Hommie
is still alittle lost. I guess I don't need the os mirrored. My tower
will be up & running when I sit down to play. It's more importaint
that my games load fast, which would be the two rapters in raid
"O". Raid "O" being the fastest load time ? When we talk about cost, its less concern. I WANT SPEED ! This is just a gaming system,
os & games. Do you think I need to have files backed up ? If you say you have a way of getting better speed , please explain.

Thx
Neeko

P.S. Don't be shy, Visit our Worldwide clan.....<?>Aenigma

http://www.clanaenigma.com/modules/newbb/

[Scott Sherman]

Ok let me throw this at you. If speed is it at all cost, still do 4 Seagates or even 3 in RAID 0. The more drives you have in the RAID the faster it gets. The Seagates would still save you money and you get more speed.

I keep saying Seagate instead of Maxtor becuase Seagate just bought Maxtor. My 3 Maxtors in RAID 0 beat 2 74GB Raptors by a good 25MBs sustained read speed. And read speed it what is going to load the games fast.

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=750&pageID=1328

[Miles]

Yes, I agree speed is your most important concern, but remember in RAID 0 if one drive fails the entire system crashes. For that reason alone you need a good backup scheme especially for the newer games that require product activation.

What I would suggest on top of what Scott mentioned is to purchase a large external drive and a copy of Acronis True Image and set up a regular backup scheme to protect losing your data. My major data files are about 30 GB and it only takes about 6-7 minutes to back them up entirely. If you have a large PATA drive that you're currently not using you can buy an excellent external enclosure for about $35 and you're set.

I can do my entire system in 10 minutes. Better safe than sorry!

I'm also hoping to have this gaming RAID card reviewed within the next week or so, and it might be just the ticktet for your needs. :D