Question regarding RAID set ups

[avsquare]

Hi all,

I've been thinking to set up a simple and cheap RAID 1 for storage purposes.

My mobo is the Asus H87-PRO and I read the manual, it says that once I changed the SATA config in BIOS to RAID mode, all 6 SATA ports will run in RAID mode due to chipset limitation.

I suppose this meant that I cannot say, run my main drive (OS) as a single non-raid disk while setting up a separate RAID 1 volume for storage?

If so, which chipset do I have to move to?

 

[mavicaste]

You are still able to run your drives in single disk setup or as part of RAID arrays while the controller is set to RAID mode. After enabling RAID mode, you can enter the Intel RAID Configuration by pressing Ctrl + I during system boot.

 

[Piezoq]

You can run any combination of arrays and disks possible among the six ports. Read the Intel RST manual for illustrations (e.g. 2 disk Raid 1 array+standalone drive).

What you lose is AHCI functionality. If you have a SSD, the firmware update and monitoring program will probably not work.

 

[avsquare]

You can run any combination of arrays and disks possible among the six ports. Read the Intel RST manual for illustrations (e.g. 2 disk Raid 1 array+standalone drive).

What you lose is AHCI functionality. If you have a SSD, the firmware update and monitoring program will probably not work.

Question, is losing ACHI function a critical loss? My main drive is a SSD and I read that ACHI actually improves the SSD's read/write speeds.

 

[Piezoq]

Question, is losing ACHI function a critical loss? My main drive is a SSD and I read that ACHI actually improves the SSD's read/write speeds.

I think the comparison is between IDE and AHCI. I'm unable to comment with no personal experience running SSDs in IDE mode.

What I can say is I'm able to get similar benchmarks (compared to advertised) in RAID mode for a couple of SSD models, from the Intel X-25V to the Samsung 840, with a couple of OCZ Sandforce-based models in between.

But, as discussed previously, I can't update the firmware in Raid mode. I'm also unable to run maintenance software on the Samsung. They're nice to have, but not critical.

I've used SSDs for the last 5 years in Raid and AHCI modes on different rigs. Honestly, I'll be hard-pressed to tell a difference (other than loading/startup times) between an X-series from years back and a Samsung 840 with a comparatively huge spec bump, much less a difference in SATA controller modes.

The main advantage of an SSD over a HDD is its ability to access any piece of information on-disk at equal rates, and the huge pipeline requests it can handle at once. The big numbers you see (500MB/s etc) don't matter much for most OS duties, other than for specific tasks such as content generation or running huge databases etc--areas for which pros know the numbers they're looking for.

Bottomline, if you use SSDs and HDDs on a regular basis, you'll be happy with any SSD from the last five years run in AHCI or Raid mode.

 

[avsquare]

I think the comparison is between IDE and AHCI. I'm unable to comment with no personal experience running SSDs in IDE mode.

What I can say is I'm able to get similar benchmarks (compared to advertised) in RAID mode for a couple of SSD models, from the Intel X-25V to the Samsung 840, with a couple of OCZ Sandforce-based models in between.

But, as discussed previously, I can't update the firmware in Raid mode. I'm also unable to run maintenance software on the Samsung. They're nice to have, but not critical.

I've used SSDs for the last 5 years in Raid and AHCI modes on different rigs. Honestly, I'll be hard-pressed to tell a difference (other than loading/startup times) between an X-series from years back and a Samsung 840 with a comparatively huge spec bump, much less a difference in SATA controller modes.

The main advantage of an SSD over a HDD is its ability to access any piece of information on-disk at equal rates, and the huge pipeline requests it can handle at once. The big numbers you see (500MB/s etc) don't matter much for most OS duties, other than for specific tasks such as content generation or running huge databases etc--areas for which pros know the numbers they're looking for.

Bottomline, if you use SSDs and HDDs on a regular basis, you'll be happy with any SSD from the last five years run in AHCI or Raid mode.

Cool, I guess that clears things up. Thanks!