Good Mobo to do RAID 5 and RAID 0 ?

[larciel]

I've been away from HW so I'm asking for help from you nice geeks

I've been thinking of getting RAID 5 for my files and RAID 0 for OS

I've set my eyesights on which HD to get (WD AAKS series) and case (CM one), but I can't pick which mobo will handle such task well.

I'm looking for good price/performance ratio board for C2D CPU. Your help is appreciated

 

[keeleysam]

There aren't really any boards that will do RAID 5. You should use a hardware controller for such things, which will offer higher performance, lower CPU usage, and if you switch boards you won't have to worry about your data.

Most boards will do RAID 0 now, what other features do you need for this computer?

 

[larciel]

Originally posted by: keeleysam
There aren't really any boards that will do RAID 5. You should use a hardware controller for such things, which will offer higher performance, lower CPU usage, and if you switch boards you won't have to worry about your data.

Most boards will do RAID 0 now, what other features do you need for this computer?

I saw many RAID 5 capabilities on current board w/ ICH9R, maybe it doesn't have good support?

I'm sure add-on card will be better than onboard RAID controller, but how much gain would I notice? I have to shell out at least $200 for add-on card, but if difference is worth the money, I can muster up more extra cash for it.

I just need good stability board w/ good RAID option. OC-ing is a must too.

 

[mrandtx]

Originally posted by: larciel
I saw many RAID 5 capabilities on current board w/ ICH9R, maybe it doesn't have good support?

I'm sure add-on card will be better than onboard RAID controller, but how much gain would I notice? I have to shell out at least $200 for add-on card, but if difference is worth the money, I can muster up more extra cash for it.

I just need good stability board w/ good RAID option. OC-ing is a must too.

Most people consider the on-motherboard RAID to be a joke for two reasons: (1) it isn't REALLY hardware RAID (i.e. they often don't off-load software like you think they would, and in fact, actually create extra burden... resulting in even slower access times than not using it at all!), and (2) there is a real chance that when the motherboard dies or otherwise needs to be replaced, the RAID on your drives will not be compatible with the new controller, making the data on your drives inaccessible.

The general advice is to either do software RAID (not as bad as you might think), or pony up the bucks to get a RAID controller that isn't embedded in the motherboard.

Have fun!

Marc

 

[Madwand1]

Intel on-board RAID is fine, even for RAID 5, although obviously not in the same class as an Areca board. For the price, it's a good value, assuming that it meets your needs. Real hardware controllers cost a lot, esp. with > 4 ports. Inexpensive RAID 5 controllers are neither guaranteed to be "real hardware RAID" nor necessarily better and more stable. In any case, RAID alone is not a backup, and if you have a real external backup, things get a lot simpler, less risky, and less reliant on the supposed quality / infallibility of the RAID system. Things are also simpler if you don't put the OS on a complex RAID array.

The biggest limitation with Intel on-board is that it doesn't support RAID 5 expansion. If you're thinking of starting with 3 drives and adding a fourth later on, you'd have to backup the data, wipe the array, add the drive, re-create the array, and reload it from backup. If you had the OS on this array, it would be even more complicated.

 

[larciel]

Originally posted by: Madwand1

The biggest limitation with Intel on-board is that it doesn't support RAID 5 expansion. If you're thinking of starting with 3 drives and adding a fourth later on, you'd have to backup the data, wipe the array, add the drive, re-create the array, and reload it from backup. If you had the OS on this array, it would be even more complicated.

Key info! Thanks

I've looked at inexpensive add-on cards ($149 for HPT one) and while it looks good on paper it lacks 2 ports over intel one.

And I've seen that RAID 5 w/ ICH8R performs quite well. (50MB write)

Seems like ICH9R will be my choice, unless intel is gearing up ICH10R pretty soon??

 

[renethx]

IMO Intel or NVIDIA RAID is reasonably good for its price. So far RAID can be transferred from ICH8R to ICH9R (and perhaps nForce4 to nForce 500 Series). Don't know about the future. Intel ICH9R supports up to 6 SATA drives and NVIDIA MCP55 (nForce 680i, 570, 590) supports 6 SATA drives and 2 PATA drives (can be mixed). For example, GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R, eVGA 680i LT, ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe (AMD). Write/Read spead in RAID 5 measured by a ICH8R user is

http://www.ocforums.com/showpo...=4983160&postcount=496

If you are not satisfied with its performance, consider a RAID card.

ICH10R is expected in May-June 2008.

 

[larciel]

Originally posted by: renethx
IMO Intel or NVIDIA RAID is reasonably good for its price. So far RAID can be transferred from ICH8R to ICH9R (and perhaps nForce4 to nForce 500 Series). Don't know about the future. Intel ICH9R supports up to 6 SATA drives and NVIDIA MCP55 (nForce 680i, 570, 590) supports 6 SATA drives and 2 PATA drives (can be mixed). For example, GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R, eVGA 680i LT, ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe (AMD). Write/Read spead in RAID 5 measured by a ICH8R user is

http://www.ocforums.com/showpo...=4983160&postcount=496

If you are not satisfied with its performance, consider a RAID card.

ICH10R is expected in May-June 2008.

awesome info!

btw, I know intel allows different partition on same HD to be built as different RAID arrays, would it be better if I get 6x 500gb and build RAID 0 of about 50gb for OS and rest of them with RAID 5 ? would that RAID 5 array be as safe as just having 4 independent HD ?

getting 6x 500gb HD fits my need better as I don't need big space for OS.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

That's an interesting idea to split the disk into partitions and stipe them differently for different needs...but I'm not sure that I would do that myself. There are high-end RAID controllers that can work with drive segments efficiently, but I'm not sure that the onboard Intel would be in that class...I would be worried that having your disk heads sweeping for your RAID 0 page file and then your application RAID5 might cause some contention at the disk level...but don't take my word for it...

What I generally do, which is less efficient, is to buy cheaper, smaller drives for RAID 0 and buy a lot of them. I have 4 x 160GB SATA for my boot. It's way too much capacity, but I like the speed and I back it up nightly...and it's just the boot os. I would then take maybe 2 x 750GB and mirror them for application data. It will likely be faster than the RAID5 and if you get a deal on the 750s, your cost shouldn't be that far out. The reason for mirroring is that I don't expect you to see any speed benefits from the RAID5 unless you go with big stripes and a fast controller...which would be really expensive.

That's my 2 cents at least.