Questions regarding setting up SATA 3.0 4X via RAID 0

[soarwitheagles]

Ok, after chatting with Mak, I have decided to wait awhile longer [3-12 months] before purchasing some Intel SSD's. I would like larger capacity Intel SSD's at lower prices [I suppose everyone feels this way]?

Anyhow, tonight when I was breaking open my brand new Gigabyte P55A-UD3 I noticed on the front of the box this statement: "SATA 3, 4x Speed via RAID 0".

I have done a fair amount of reading on RAID set ups, and to be 100% honest with you, I found it very challenging to understand...[striping, mirroring, what stripe size should I use, etc.].

What did catch my attention was benchmarks and corresponding statements like this:

"The hard disk system burst read transfer rate increased between 49.17% and 57.39% when we used RAID0 configuration instead of a single disk configuration." I found benchmarks and the preceding statement here:
Does RAID0 Really Increase Disk Performance? | Hardware Secrets

"The hard disk system average transfer rate increased between 93.76% and 101.36% when we used a RAID0 configuration instead of a single disk configuration – in other words, RAID0 doubled the hard disk drive system average speed!"

Needless to say, those stats are very impressive to me...

I have never run anything in any of the RAID options ever before....so, here are my questions:

1. Will I really receive HD performance that is 4 times faster if I use RAID 0 with a MB that supports SATA3?
2. Must I use two of the exact same HD's. Must these HD's that are to be run in RAID 0 have SATA 3 capabilities? [UPDATE: Ok, after reading much more tonight, I now realize both drives must be identical and must support SATA 3. Can anyone here suggest two HD's that support these requirements and are a good deal at the moment]?
3. Is it difficult to set up RAID 0? Is maintenance difficult on a RAID 0 set up?
4. Would you set my system up with SATA 3 via RAID 0 if you had this option? If yes, why?

Ok, I have come here because I know most of you guys are light years ahead of me in many different areas of computer components, software, OS, etc.

Can someone here help me in this area?

Here are the components I have acquired so far:

Intel i5-750
Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3
Western Digital 640 GB Black edition
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) F3-12800CL7D
Enermax Infiniti Ein720AWT 720W Modular PSU
Cool Master Sniper Black Edition
Galaxy 250 GTS
Corsair Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit


Thank you,

Soar

 

[kmote]

I don't know anything about your motherboard but for normal RAID (independent of proprietary enhancements)

1) the SATA speed is always a lot faster than the transfer speed of the disk so as long as you only have one disk on the cable, it won't matter if it is SATA1,2 or 3. It may be roughly 4 times faster than a single disk because you have 4 of them.

2) Just to implement RAID they don't even need to be the same capacity let alone the same model but it is good advise to try. RAID predates SATA by ages so yes RAID can be done with IDE, SCSI or anything else really but the disk interface must obviously match the controller interface.

3) no

4) no, a 4 disk RAID 0 is asking for trouble - if one disk fails you will loose all your data.

 

[Slaymate]

Think of Raid0 as a Relay Racing Team and the standard drive as your competitor in a race. And the race length is determined by the file length. And the motherboard controller is the Baton Switch. In really short races your not going to see much of a difference and a single drive may even be faster occasionally. But as the races start getting longer and longer the difference starts to become more and more noticeable. And as you start to add more racers to your Relay/Raid0 Team your expanding your capabilities.

Depending on your uses the benefits of Raid0 vary and the efficiency is in a simular proportion. And while it is true that if one of your drives fail in a Raid0 configuration you lose all of your Data. The same thing is true wiith a single drive, if it fails you lose all of your data. Either way you lose all of your data and a drive, it's not like all of your Raid drives have to be replaced.

Edit: I ran a Raid0 Array for years with no more problems than a single drive setup. But with SSD's available I will probably never bother with Raid ever again. My OCZ Agility isn't the fastest SSD but I got more disk space for my money and it's still way faster than any Raid0 Array I've ever had.

 

[soarwitheagles]

I don't know anything about your motherboard but for normal RAID (independent of proprietary enhancements)

1) the SATA speed is always a lot faster than the transfer speed of the disk so as long as you only have one disk on the cable, it won't matter if it is SATA1,2 or 3. It may be roughly 4 times faster than a single disk because you have 4 of them.

2) Just to implement RAID they don't even need to be the same capacity let alone the same model but it is good advise to try. RAID predates SATA by ages so yes RAID can be done with IDE, SCSI or anything else really but the disk interface must obviously match the controller interface.

3) no

4) no, a 4 disk RAID 0 is asking for trouble - if one disk fails you will loose all your data.

Kmote,

Ok, thanks for your insights and now I think it is best not to do the RAID 0.

Think of Raid0 as a Relay Racing Team and the standard drive as your competitor in a race. And the race length is determined by the file length. And the motherboard controller is the Baton Switch. In really short races your not going to see much of a difference and a single drive may even be faster occasionally. But as the races start getting longer and longer the difference starts to become more and more noticeable. And as you start to add more racers to your Relay/Raid0 Team your expanding your capabilities.

Depending on your uses the benefits of Raid0 vary and the efficiency is in a simular proportion. And while it is true that if one of your drives fail in a Raid0 configuration you lose all of your Data. The same thing is true wiith a single drive, if it fails you lose all of your data. Either way you lose all of your data and a drive, it's not like all of your Raid drives have to be replaced.

Edit: I ran a Raid0 Array for years with no more problems than a single drive setup. But with SSD's available I will probably never bother with Raid ever again. My OCZ Agility isn't the fastest SSD but I got more disk space for my money and it's still way faster than any Raid0 Array I've ever had.

Slay,

Thanks for helping me to understand this more clearly. Yes, those ssd's are incredible...and I really would like to have one, but I will wait until the prices of the Intel 80gb's drop in price.

After reading all this info, I have come to the conclusion that setting up RAID 0 on my new system probably just isn't worth the time and effort.

Thanks for helping see that.

Soar