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RAID array and Trim

H

Hopper642

Member
I have 2 Intel 520 SSDs in a RAID 0 configuration and I have a question about gc and trim on these drives. Running win7 64 on a Rampage 4 extreme. I know the trim command is not being passed to the drives as they are RAIDed, but does the built in garbage collection for the SF2281 controller maintain the drive without the benefit of trim? I am a bit unclear on this. The Intel toolbox is all greyed out due to the RAID array too, so I can't know anything about the drives. Thanks.
 
You've got two things to consider. First off, the stock garbage collection on SandForce drives is usually fairly good. I've got the same setup as you do on my system at home. Secondly, how often is write performance going to be a bottleneck on your system drive (i.e. uncleaned write performance)? If it's a system drive that is used for your OS or programs, the SF-2281 controller will have sufficient time to clean the unused blocks.

The Intel SSD toolbox should be able to check the status of your drives even if they are part of a RAID array (assuming it's a RAID on an Intel controller). Make sure that you've got all the latest chipset and RST drivers installed and you should be able to see the individual drives.
 
as with ANY SF-228x based controller.. extra overprovisioned space(OP) and sufficient/ocassional low activity idle recovery(based on write loads, of course) will keep them nice and fresh feeling in all but the most extreme environments.

The first gen SF-1xxx series were a bit more tricky to avoid throttles since it was coded into firmware.. but this one's larger recycling engine combined with more aggressive on-the-fly recovery algorithms nearly eliminate slowdowns from sticking around for very long even if you did beat your array enough to ever catch a quick glimpse of one.

So, no worries.. these controllers recover quite well in raids even if you do hammer them. Take nicer care of them with OP and dedicated idle recovery time?.. you'll never have an issue with performance over time.

All the mumbo-jumbo you may have heard about "2 drives slowing to less than a single drive without TRIM".. is simply based on misunderstanding and therefore, flawed testing and recovery techniques. Which is the nicer way of saying.. they don't have much more than a clue..or know what the hell they're doing.
 
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Thanks for the quick replies. That is helpful. I didn't want to wait on trim support with the next Intel rst drivers to use a RAID array. It is very fast and yes, I am using it as a boot drive for the OS. I have installed the toolbox and the chipset and sata drivers are current, but the toolbox is still a problem. It does see the drives, but there's no trim, smart data, etc. Groberts, what does the "OP" mean in "Take nicer care of them with OP and dedicated idle recovery time?.. "? I appreciate the help from both of you. 🙂
 
Hopper642 said:
Groberts, what does the "Take nicer care of them with OP and dedicated idle recovery time?.. "?
Click to expand...

Previous SF controllers needed a little more help in terms of allowing their internal garbage collection to work. The more you overprovisioned (OP) the drives - i.e. how much spare area did you leave - the better it performed. Also, the more idle time you gave the drive allowed it to run it's garbage collection, which cleared unused cells.

You can safely use your current RAID0 array without having to worry about TRIM. When Intel does release the final RST 11.5 drivers, you'll simply 'get' TRIM enabled from that point forward without having to reinstall or rebuild the array.
 
Zxian said:
Previous SF controllers needed a little more help in terms of allowing their internal garbage collection to work. The more you overprovisioned (OP) the drives - i.e. how much spare area did you leave - the better it performed. Also, the more idle time you gave the drive allowed it to run it's garbage collection, which cleared unused cells.

You can safely use your current RAID0 array without having to worry about TRIM. When Intel does release the final RST 11.5 drivers, you'll simply 'get' TRIM enabled from that point forward without having to reinstall or rebuild the array.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I think I have left plenty of empty space on the drives, so that shouldn't be an issue.

The next big question is when will the RST 11.5 drivers arrive? That is something no one can tell us at this point I guess. Appreciate all the help here.
 
Oh, BTW, one other question. I am using both crystaldiscmark and ATTO Disk bench mark for benching this RAID array. I have noticed variability in the read speeds especially in crystaldiscmark. There may be as much as 200MB/sec difference in the read speeds from day to day. Is this significant? Is the variability from day to day normal? Thanks.
 
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