Hybrid drives in RAID?

LurchFrinky

Senior member
Nov 12, 2003
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I'm not suggesting that this is a good idea, or even that I am planning on attempting it, I was just curious if they work.

I ask because these drives have their own controller on board to determine which data is copied onto the SSD portion, and I didn't know if this conflicted with RAID controllers at all. I would assume that in the worst case scenario, the SSD portion would be ineffectual and you would have RAID performance similar to two regular drives. In the best case, I would think you could have RAID 1 with SSD speeds for commonly used data, or RAID 0 with even faster SSD speeds.

And yes, I know the SSD portion of these drives isn't that fast, but reviews indicate that it is faster than HDDs.
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
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Sep 28, 2005
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dont care about data ptotection...

i always say, then go speed or go home.
So i say go for it... it will double the capacity of your lowest drive... and give u faster read and writes regardless of it being a hybrid.

And no there is no conflict with controllers.
Ive Raided 3 seagate momentus hybrid drives in R0.

Was it fast?
No... my single Crucial SSD back in 2011 "ROFL floor stomped" it across every speed test i threw at it on the ICH10R.
But it did have 4x the capacity of my crucial. :p
 
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LurchFrinky

Senior member
Nov 12, 2003
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If you've already done it, then I guess that answers my question.
Thanks!

I am considering upgrading my FreeNAS box and making it RAID0. That single green drive just isn't cutting it. (and yes, I will have separate backups)
I was thinking the cache functionality of the hybrid drives might make a difference when browsing directories and viewing thumbnails. It probably isn't enough to justify the price difference, though.