RAID and SSD

[Farriscar]

Hi guys!

I built my own computer 5-6 years ago and think I'm going to sell it and build another. I should be better at it this time I hope .

What I am curious about are SSDs and RAID configuration. I initially wanted to get a SSD to put the OS on and then 2 1TB HDDs for storage, using the SSD to simply boot the OS.

The master plan was to a) set all of it up in a RAID5 configuration or b) set up the 2 1TB HDDs in RAID1 and use the SSD to boot. I'm new to SSDs and RAID and am not even sure SSD can be set up in RAID.

This will be mainly for media, gaming, audio recording/mixing.

Just hoped someone with some experience would read this and give me some input so I don't jump in blind like I did the first time lol.

Thanks!

 

[Night Fox]

First, I would recommend getting at least a 90gb SSD. This way you have 20gb for the OS (I'm assuming windows 7) and 70gb for programs, which you'll want on a SSD, not the 1tb drives. Some programs won't allow you to choose your own install destination, so it will automatically go to the C drive, and if you don't have enough space, it's gonna cause problems, so it's just best to put all the programs on the SSD. I'm going to stop right there because I know very little about raid.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Why raid 1? The raid array would suffer in performance, but would give redundancy.

I suggest either a large SSD (120GB) or bigger, and a 1TB drive just for every day things such as music, or you can do what I did, go Raid 0 with a set of higher performance hard drives, and use a small SSD for the OS and basics, and redirect your program files directory to the raid array. You still get a performance increase by just having the OS on the SSD, but, get the capacity of a large hard drive. I find it rather enjoyable, not as great as just using an SSD for everything, but enjoyable.

I would also redirect my users directory to the raid array if I could, but, that causes some serious issues.

 

[Farriscar]

I'm not really understanding the difference in RAIDS. I think RAID0 would work with 2 1TB drives just to have that mirror storage and then a 90GB SSD for the programs I would use most often and the OS of course. For games I would probably install them on the SSD while I play them and then move them to the raid array when I'm finished with it.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Lexluethar]

RAID 0 will give you ZERO redundancy. RAID 0 is stripping, which just puts different parts of the data on different drives for faster access, the data is not duplicated across drives - therefore giving NO REDUNDANCY. If you want performance do this but realize your stuff will not be backed up so you lose a drive or that array and poof - your stuff is toast.

If it were me I would do a RAID 1 setup with two identical platter drives, this requires two drives and will mirror one drive to the other. Within windows it will be seamless, you will only see one drive through windows explorer and disk management. If you lose a drive you will pickup right where you left off (keeping in mind you will need to replace the broken drive and rebuild the array). I would then use the SSD for the OS and program files. Use the RAID for important things like budgets, photo's, saved games, etc (things you can't replace). Use the SSD for OS and programs (things you can reinstall).

I run a RAID 1 on two 500 GB drives. I use this for all my storage. I then use a drive for my OS and program files (all saved data goes to my RAID). Finally I actually back my RAID drive nightly to an external drive. This is for easy access in case i do need to leave in an emergency (fire, etc).