[Preference?] Two 60GB in RAID 0 or one 40GB program disk, one 80GB storage disk (IDE)?

Jan 9, 2002
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These days we here a lot of hype about RAID and its many benefits and few downfalls, but it is right for everyone? I've also heard that RAID can sometimes be unreliable, and I wonder if it's really just a hobbyist/power user's storage medium. Is it stable and secure enough for a mission critical corporate work enviroment, or is sticking to traditional tried-and-true single IDE drives still the most legit way to go?

In your experience and preference, what storage setup would you rather recommend to a corporation looking for high-end, 3D number crunching, 2GHz+, mission critical, 24x7 computer systems for their senior engineers?

A.) Dual 60GB IDE setup striped under RAID 0
B.) One 40GB IDE program disk (Windows XP, AutoCAD, etc) and one 80GB IDE storage disk (AutoCAD projects, MP3s, video files, et al)

-Chris
 

Demonicon

Senior member
Oct 30, 2001
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B

Mission critical and Raid 0 don't belong in the same sentence :)

I love my Raid setup, but unlike most users, I backup data I don't want to lose :D
 

Maggotry

Platinum Member
Dec 5, 2001
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<< B

Mission critical and Raid 0 don't belong in the same sentence :)
>>


Damn straight.



<< I backup data I don't want to lose :D >>


Damn straight (again).
 
Jan 9, 2002
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I design workstations that should be able to withstand being left on 24x7 for years at a time and abuse everyday, so every single aspect must be certified to provide bulletproof reliability. I've heard a lot about the awesome speeds you can get with RAID, but I wasn't sure about its dependability in starting to offer this storage medium to my clients.

I think this the overall consensus. Anyone else?
 

NeonFlak

Senior member
Sep 27, 2000
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I have never had a raid 0 setup fail by it's own means. I have however had them fail because dieing harddrives. However, if this is a big corporation and you do decide to go raid 0, I would plan on setting up some type of back-up system. I work for a major technology and finicial firm. And let me just say that no matter how good the hardware is somehow some of these users find ways to break their computers once a week. The raid setup may increase productivity, but I would setup some type of back-up system just for piece of mind.
 
Jan 9, 2002
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...like RAID 1? Doesn't that create a redundant drive in case one fails? What kinds of drives are you using that fail?
 

N11

Senior member
Mar 5, 2002
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All depends on whether you want to give up a little speed in the process of creating your redundancy.

If you're looking for 365x24x7 uptime and hardcore reliablity then I would suggest no less than RAID 5.

Four 36GB 15ks in RAID 5. That should do the trick on those workstations.

I'm not sure I really understand the purpose of hte enterprise server level mission critical status on these workstatations. What kind of workstations are these?
 
Jan 9, 2002
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Well, my systems are *designed* for this kind of work enviroment- they probably will not always be operating like this. In my situation, I think RAID 5 is actually overkill. The workstations are high-end AMD Athlon XP rigs and Athlon MP systems for the most part right now. Might be doing Xeons later, but it's just AMDs best for now.
 

ObiDon

Diamond Member
May 8, 2000
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The ONLY thing I use my Raid 0 for is raw video capturing and since I don't think senior engineers will be doing any of that, I vote for B :)

Also, if there is going to be a lot of HUGE file copying or moving, your drive-to-drive performance (with the 40GB+80GB setup) will probably save a lot of time versus partition-to-partition copying on the Raid 0 setup.
If you will be making system backups with something like Ghost, it will also be a LOT faster to backup the 40GB into a file on the 80GB drive (instead of partition-to-partition) which you could then put onto your favorite media...assuming you're not going with some sort of tape backup system.
 
Jan 9, 2002
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Ok cool. Yeah, I was thinking of making an image of the 40GB onto the 80GB, and still have at least 40GB left on the 80GB drive for storage still.