Good HDD for RAID

[JosephBarker]

I'm looking to upgrade my computer a bit for a little bit of cash and I decided it might be nice to have a RAID array. Be it for performance or data protection.

Right now I have a good 750GB WDC 32MB 7200RPM drive. (Looking to have that as the data drive if I do a RAID 0 and keep it off the array) Or if its better to do I believe its RAID 5 where you have 2+ drives storing and 1 drive thats protecting them.

Anyway what do you guys think and what are some good options to check out for some inexpensive SATA drives that still have performance

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Well first of all I'd recommend deciding whether you want increased redundancy or increased speed. I'm going to assume you'll keep your most important data backed up on your 750Gb drive and want a faster setup.

The Western Digital Blue drives are very reliable, I'd suggest getting two of those and putting them in a RAID0 array.
They're also pretty cheap, so it won't hurt your wallet too much

 

[JosephBarker]

Oh yes most important will stay on 750GB...

Now if I were to buy 3 would it be much better than 2...basically is it worth the extra.
Also if I do RAID 0 do I reinstall my OS onto the RAID and install my games onto the array that way It helps the performance there? Because it seems to me if my os isn't on the array it won't run as the array

 

[JosephBarker]

Hows this HDD look... Pretty good deal on it too...plus id get free shipping

Western Digital WD5000AAKS Caviar Blue Hard Drive - 500GB, 7200rpm, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM at TigerDirect.com

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Yep you'll have to reinstall your OS on the raid.

As to how much better 3 drives would be than 2, I'm not sure. Basically in a RAID0 setup, the data is broken up and distributed to all the drives. So theoretically, as you add more and more drives to the setup, the percentage of speed increase at which the files are written should decrease.

edit: so yes, 3 drives should be better than 2.
edit edit: and yes, that drive looks fine.
edit edit edit: no, not exponentially. My mind was elsewhere
edit edit edit edit: and again, it's not totally correct to just multiply it either. But for the number of drives you're dealing with, yeah it's close enough I guess

 

[JosephBarker]

Ah so Its exponentially instead of multiplying? That would be saying 3 over 2 would be 10x better instead of 33 percent better.

 

[JosephBarker]

Good enough for me, thanks a lot for the discussion and help

 

[S0ULphIRE]

no probs!