Raid0 hard drives: worth it?

[sharrakor]

Hello all, I am building a new computer soon and am considering buying multiple disks to use in raid0 configuration. I've heard mixed things about raid0, however (I don't mind the risk it poses to my data---all my important files will be backed up, assuming i can have X hard drives in raid0 and 1 hard drive on its own in the same computer).

So my question is, will i notice a difference when I am gaming, browsing the internet, copying/pasting, ect? More specifically, is there much of a difference between haveing 2,3 or 4 drives in raid0? Theoretically, it should be much faster, but I can't make an investment until I've heard from others. Additionally, I would imagine that truecrypted drives would preform better.

Thanks

 

[Sora]

If you don't mind the data loss chance increase then yes RAID 0 can be very beneficial. Go ahead and raid two 7200.11 drives and see what it does .

 

[Luke]

i really don't think it is worth it...the speed you gain is minimal and the risk of loosing all your data is pretty large(well large enough)

 

[EricB]

i really don't think it is worth it...the speed you gain is minimal and the risk of loosing all your data is pretty large(well large enough)

yes sir. it is

 

[Luke]

well in a percentage how much faster would it be? Does it justify the risk?

 

[Sora]

If your someone who doesnt care much about your data becuase you are a game player or you have youir important stuff backed up then yes. Why did some people overclock even though the risk was very high?....becuase they wanted more speed regardless.

RAID 0 is worth it and not just that but 2 good reputable hard drives such as a Seagate or WD will last a while and the chance of one being faulty is very low.

 

[sharrakor]

I've read up on it a lot more, and I heard a lot of things, including that it can actually slow it down. Of those who recommended it, have you tried it? If so, what rough % of an increase did you get in overall speed (aside from boot times)?

 

[EricB]

never raid 0 an ide or sata, unless you don't care about the hdd dying. if you must raid them get a seagate scsi hdd that was built for raiding (extra durable). you lose half the reliability of each drive by raiding.

if you want speed upgrade your ram and processor. that speed difference is of 10,000 rpm vs 7200 isn't that big. the 15,000 rpm of a scsi hdd is

 

[UA_Iron]

never raid 0 an ide or sata, unless you don't care about the hdd dying. if you must raid them get a seagate scsi hdd that was built for raiding (extra durable). you lose half the reliability of each drive by raiding.

if you want speed upgrade your ram and processor. that speed difference is of 10,000 rpm vs 7200 isn't that big. the 15,000 rpm of a scsi hdd is

Raptors are SATA - but based off SCSI hardware.

SCSI controllers are too involved and too expensive for a pretty dated technology. SAS controllers, on the other hand, are getting quite a bit cheaper:
Newegg.com - PROMISE FastTrak TX2650 PCI Express SATA / SAS Controller Card RAID 0/1 JBOD - Controllers / RAID Cards
and two of these:
Newegg.com - Fujitsu MAX3073RC 73GB 15000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
would make for a killer raid 0 setup, but again it would be really involved.

I wish there was some decent reliablity percentages stated for consumer harddrives.

 

[EricB]

Raptors are SATA - but based off SCSI hardware.

SCSI controllers are too involved and too expensive for a pretty dated technology. SAS controllers, on the other hand, are getting quite a bit cheaper:
Newegg.com - PROMISE FastTrak TX2650 PCI Express SATA / SAS Controller Card RAID 0/1 JBOD - Controllers / RAID Cards
and two of these:
Newegg.com - Fujitsu MAX3073RC 73GB 15000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives
would make for a killer raid 0 setup, but again it would be really involved.

I wish there was some decent reliablity percentages stated for consumer harddrives.

true. it is based off it. but sata really is an ide scsi drive meaning ide reliability with scsi like features

that's why they are so cheap