Please recommend a drive setup

[flyahull]

Hello, I am new here and have a question about how best to set up storage on my new build. I looked around but don't see anyone asking about my planned application, and I'm having a temporary vision problem that makes my reading slow so I hope you can be tolerant if this has been asked before.

I'm building a stable performance workstation for web development (local test servers, javascript/asp coding, etc.), Adobe CS5 -- Photoshop, Flash, Video&Audio editing, minor SQL database work, and common MS Office-Outlook-web browsing stuff. I always have 3-4 apps open at a time and also do a lot of file movement via mapped network drives and ftp.

I just bought an ASRock P67 mobo (1155 socket). It has 2x Marvel SE9120 SATA3 6Gbps ports and 2x Intel SATA3 6Gbps ports, along with several Intel SATA2 ports. I bought a 128gb SATA3 6Gbps SSD that I plan to use for OS. I plan to buy 2-3 HDD for apps and storage, and I want at least redundancy RAID if not striping for that. The SSD will not go into RAID.

I had a bad experience with Intel Rapid Storage on ICH10R on the X58 chipset - lots of bugs - so I lean away from Intel RAID, but then again it is the P67 chipset so maybe that's hard to get away from? I don't want to spend more money on a RAID card unless there's a compelling story there for my app.

So, my questions are:
First, which connector to plug the SSD into for OS - the Marvel SATA3 or the Intel SATA3?

Then, if I get new SATA3 HDD am I better off with 2 HDD in RAID1 on the SATA3 or 3 HDD in RAID5 on SATA2?

Which would be better for the HDD if on SATA3 - the Intel or Marvel onboard controller?

 

[RaiderJ]

1) I'd say Intel SATA3....because it's better? I don't have a solid reason for that answer. The Marvell controller may be connected to the chipset on a slower bus than the Intel SATA3 controller, but I can't find a block diagram that will confirm/deny that. I did find a mention that you have to take extra steps to boot off the Marvell - keep that in mind.

2) Any spindle drives, even if SATA3, won't really benefit as the drive itself is a bottleneck, not the connector. Just stick all your spindle drives that you plan to RAID on the SATA2 ports. RAID1 vs RAID5 just depends on if you want speed vs. capacity. You might consider RAID 1+0 and use all 4 ports since you mention this is a performance workstation.

3) Any controller should be find for a spindle.

 

[lopri]

I suggest doing away with on-board RAID. If you must, consider software-based solution as well as real backup. As you've experienced, on-board RAID can be a hit or miss, and unlike other parts you don't want a "miss" on your data.

 

[FishAk]

I also had problems using ICH10R on a x58 board, and WD drives in RAID. I was able to fix the problem in my case, as described in this thread; http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2140485

You didn't say how much capacity you need, so adjust the following for your needs.

Make sure to use the Intel ports for your SSD, as the Marvell ports arn't as good.

Buy 4 matching HDDs. I reccomend Samsung 1TB HD103SJ which has 2 500GB platters. Buy- or use existing- either 2 more of the disks, or one with twice the capacity of one of the 4.

Set 4 of the drives in RAID 0 with the Intel RST matrix, using a small amount of the capacity- say 1 or 200GB.

Set the remaining capacity of the four disks to RAID 10 with the same controller.

Connect the remaining 2 disks (or a single with twice the capacity of your array- in this case 2GB) to operate in single disk mode- not in RAID. Use these as internal backup disks to back up your array, and SSD (with a 50-60GB partition to keep OS images on) The Marvel ports will work fine for this, or they can be used for an optical drive.

This setup will give you an SSD for the OS, a 4 disk RAID 0 array for a scratch partition, a 4 disk RAID 1+0 array for your important data that can be accessed at a very good speed, and a normal disk set to backup all your data. Don't neglect an external drive set to provide for off-site backups.

I am using a similar setup, and am very pleased with the speed, and reliability.

Many frown on the use of fake RAID, but if it works, it works just as well, and in many cases better than hardware RAID for much less money. As long as you keep a good backup set, you are in no danger of loosing data. On the other hand, if you don't keep good backup set, you are in danger of loosing data no matter what setup you use.

The fake RAID will cost you nothing (except for the disks), and if you find it giving you trouble, you can easily buy a RAID card, and still use the same disks.

 

[flyahull]

Hey, thanks very much guys and/or gals. I'm grateful for your experience with this.

I know I'd get a RAID card if I wasn't cheaping out on aspects of this rig. But for now it sounds best to put the SSD with OS on the Intel SATA3 and maybe the optical drive on the Marvel SATA3 connector, and then RAID of HDD on the Intel SATA2 ports.

FishAk, I like the idea of virtual scratch disks for media work - I assume that's what you had in mind for the RAID0 portion. I did the RAID10 in RST on my previous build and I'm not sure it really performs better than RAID5 would. All Intel would let me do was actually RAID0+1, at least as far as I could tell. Plus I think I could get a 'hot' spare in RAID5, automaitcally taking care of internal backup.

In that previous build, with ICH10R on X58 chipset, my problems finally went away when I RMA'd one of the drives (WD Black Enterprise REs with TLER), swapped a SATA cable, and finally upgraded to RST 10.5. My first version of Intel Rapid Storage (8.9) was hopeless. But here I go again, I guess, risking Intel RAID to save money.

That external drive for offsite backup is something I do in theory, but to be honest it's a PITA when you have 500gb to backup. Do you have any tricks for making that easier/faster?

 

[FishAk]

... it's a PITA when you have 500gb to backup. Do you have any tricks for making that easier/faster?

GoodSync

I have found it to be very dependable. You can set it and forget it. It is free to try, but not to use long term.

During the POST routine, you hit "Ctrl. + I" to manage the ICH controller. From there, you can build an array, and assign it the amount of space you want. If you don't use 100 percent of what's available, you can assign some to another array- ie RAID 1 or 1+0. I believe you can keep making arrays till you have assigned all the space, but I never did more than two at once, so I'm not sure on that.

I think the controller uses space from the outside of the disk first, so the first array you build will have the most choice portion of the drives.

The disadvantage of the Matrix Array is that if any portion of a disk is used in an array, than none of the disk space of an array member, can be used in single disk mode. You aren't required to use all the space, but any portion that is used must be in RAID 0, 1, 5, or 10. This is why I recommend another disk set- not tied to the array- that can be used in single disk mode for backup.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

Have you considered just getting a 64GB SSD and using the new SRT in front of a single 2TB spindle drive? Seems *so* much simpler and less headache than mucking with a RAID setup, and you would get most of the performance (if not more) with SRT.

Simple almost always wins.

I've been running a 128GB SSD and a 1TB spindle drive in my work computer for over a year and the performance has been top notch. On the SSD I have OS and all programs installed, and all my code as well as my databases for development (~30GB in DBs). The spindle drive holds all my documents, backups, etc. I've not had space issues on the SSD nor the spindle drive. Do you really have that much data?

 

[flyahull]

Thanks again. I truly appreciate the advice.

What I suppose I I'll do is get 4x 500gb (or 1TB) drives on the Intel Sata2 connectors and make a RAID0 on a portion for scratch disk then make the remainder RAID5 with spare or RAID0+1, then put a 2TB single disk on the remaining Intel SATA3 (or even Marvel SATA3) connector for internal backup. Then I'd have these SATA connections:
Marvel SATA3_0: optical
MarvelSATA3_1: empty
Intel SATA3_0: 128 gb SATA3 6Gbps SSD with OS
Intel SATA3_1: 1TB HDD single disk for internal BAK
Intel SATA2_0: 500 gb 3Gbps SATA2 HDD
Intel SATA2_1: 500 gb 3Gbps SATA2 HDD
Intel SATA2_2: 500 gb 3Gbps SATA2 HDD
Intel SATA2_3: 500 gb 3Gbps SATA2 HDD

I really want redundancy - every PC I have owned in the last 5 years has had a drive fail (6+). I must be hard on drives. It's not a problem when you can just swap them. I'm looking into GoodSync now. Automatic solutions are great, esp when the thought of moving several 3gb video files around just depresses me. I'm not so sure about the SRT setup, and I don't think that my P67 board supports it anyway.