RAID 0 SSD, any real improvements in the real world?

HexiumVII

Senior member
Dec 11, 2005
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I used to play with RAIDs a long time ago, but found they can be a big headache when anything goes wrong. I got addicted to buying SSDs and now have 2x 80GB G2 and 2x samsung 830. I was planning to do samsung boot and programs on the intel 80gb on each of my two systems, but since they are paired, I can do some RAIDING also. I see the seq goes through the roof in most benchies, but in real world, do you guys see an real improvement? I know for HDD it wasn't really worth the headache, and i had SCSI 15kers!
 

groberts101

Golden Member
Mar 17, 2011
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You either have a usage model that will show beneift from increased multitasking ability and ultra-fast transfers between volumes?.. or you don't.

So, with that being said... if you didn't see any benefits from R0 before?.. then I don't understand why you would think having 5 times more throughput from 2 SSD's in R0 would be any different nowadays. Although, it's pretty obvious that comparing a single SSD to even several of those SCSI drives is still not a fair fight due to SSD's ultra-low latency and HUGE IOPS capability.

To build an ultra-fast system by reducing the largest bottlenecks most will see in typical usage these days.. you would need to have storage speeds more closely matched with the OS volume to save much time over the long run. This is because we cannot R/W data from/to an OS volume any faster than the storage volume would allow. You'll still need to wait for the data to be stored natively ON the SSD to see the speed increase. Using R0 on both OS and storage will give you that speed increase in spades.

If you use wide enough SSD arrays for an OS volume AND storage?.. it will mimic the effect of running everything from ram. Overkill?.. probably. Worth the money?.. always up to the end user and their expected usage model.

Personally?.. I don't even like running a single SSD anymore and I have one of the fastest sata3 drives ever made. 6 drives in R0 for my OS.. matched with 8 HDD's for storage has spoiled me for life. To each his own.
 
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exdeath

Lifer
Jan 29, 2004
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Very real improvement, provided you have other systems or volumes for source material.

A million SSDs in RAID 0 won't do any good beyond boot times and installing things you download off the internet if you are using CD ROM and USB 2.0 to install software or backup files. That said it's great for wowing your friends when you show them right click copy here on your desktop with a DVD iso and an icon just appears with no copy progress dialog :)

Personally I'm looking for a nice 3.5" internal dock for 2.5" drives to use 2.5" SSDs even as portable 550 MB/sec source media. I keep collecting SSDs based on deals too good to pass up rather than need :p
 
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kbp

Senior member
Oct 8, 2011
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^
I could not pass up that Samsung the other day for $139.
Should have bought 2 of them and built another array.
 

pjkenned

Senior member
Jan 14, 2008
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Been using multiple sets of RAID 0 SSDs from 2-8 drives for quite awhile now. Personally, one drive will give you the most perceivable benefit. RAID 0 helps when you can get 128GB drives inexpensively and want a larger volume. The bad thing is that in the last three years I have lost RAID 0 arrays four times. I have tons of storage and great backups so no big deal. If I didn't, it would be a major consideration because you basically double your chance of that volume failing over a single drive (and go up from there as you add drives.)
 

Old Hippie

Diamond Member
Oct 8, 2005
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It's like anything else when you get into high-end stuff.

While there are definate differences YOU need to appreciate the difference.

There's still some that don't appreciate SSDs because they don't appreciate the difference.

As in Uber-audio and car engines the last 10% of performance will cost 110% of the first 90%.

I have 3 Crucial C300s in RAID0 on an LSI 9260 + Fastpath.

It's definately faster than 2 drives but not by much and I appreciate the difference.

It's all up to you! :)
 

NP Complete

Member
Jul 16, 2010
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I know for HDD it wasn't really worth the headache, and i had SCSI 15kers!

I think you answered your own question. "Real world" covers a large amount of applications and uses. For some, RAID 0 SSDs can save them time and resources for the work they use their system for (professional image processing, professional audio work, data base use, etc).

For most consumer uses, RAID 0 will results very little noticable improvement. Games, web browsing, most programming, prosumer image editing/audio work you'll see at most a few % improvement.

Personally, if I had 4 SSDs, I'd distribute them amongst all my systems (laptop, desktops, etc) before I started RAIDing them. After that I might do RAID 1, because I'd value the reliability over the performance boost.
 

Makaveli

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2002
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I will find this out as soon as intel released those damn 11.5 drivers for Trim in Raid 0.

However i'm raiding for increased storage space more than speed.
 

FiLeZz

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2000
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I as well amd doing Raid 0 for space more then speed.

I have 2 corsair force GT 240gb drives in raid 0 for 480gb Boot drive.

I have backups running and needed it when I needed to replace a SSD.. Was easy painless and never lost one thing. 1100mb read 1000 write speeds are enough for anyone. Well other than a SAN, for enterprize Level storage.
 

Makaveli

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2002
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Go for it IF you're working with Windows 8 Consumer Preview. :)

Nice but the only time my computer has seen the win 8 CP is when I load up the VM of it.

I have no interest at all in using win 8 in its current form on my desktop pc.

I'm hoping they released these soon I have the second ssd sitting in a box for the last month.

Everyday it says install me install me lol!
 

groberts101

Golden Member
Mar 17, 2011
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Go for it IF you're working with Windows 8 Consumer Preview. :)

any other links to someone who has tested that?

I have my 6 drive array running W8 and never even thought to test it since that driver's notes say that that version doesn't have it activated yet.

Time to investigate yet another rumor, I guess.
 

icanhascpu2

Senior member
Jun 18, 2009
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"I used to play with RAIDs a long time ago, but found they can be a big headache when anything goes wrong."

I think you mean:

"I used to play with RAID-0 a long time ago, but found I didnt know what I was doing and they can be a big headache when anything goes wrong."
 

Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 13, 2008
7,930
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Please keep it civil, we don't need that sort of flame bait.

I sure hope this raid trim thing gets fixed soon as well, though, it will be a while before I can afford to upgrade my system again. Works fine for now anyways.
 

biostud

Lifer
Feb 27, 2003
19,124
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For normal PC use I wouldn't do it. To me it wouldn't be worth the hassle.
But if you do lot of heavy file work, and have a good backup routine, then why not?