Windows 7 Advantages of RAID

[nehoma]

I have been reading about these external RAID enclosures and have been wondering whether to get one or not. The idea of a RAID 1 +0 appeals to me for the sake of security but does it give a better performance or is it just a lot more to go wrong and a waste of money.
Anyone care to enlighten me please?

 

[reghakr]

This pdf file will give you some general information:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...wfC1DA&usg=AFQjCNFHLK473kBERe5rITWl12hlo3fUgQ

Also look over the threads at the bottom of this page.

 

[kemical]

I have been reading about these external RAID enclosures and have been wondering whether to get one or not. The idea of a RAID 1 +0 appeals to me for the sake of security but does it give a better performance or is it just a lot more to go wrong and a waste of money.
Anyone care to enlighten me please?

It gets my vote.. I've also been using it for years but don't just listen to me... Here's an extract from wiki's RAID

There are three key concepts in RAID: Link Removed due to 404 Error, the copying of data to more than one disk; Link Removed due to 404 Error, the splitting of data across more than one disk; and Link Removed due to 404 Error, where redundant data is stored to allow problems to be detected and possibly fixed (known as Link Removed due to 404 Error). Different RAID levels use one or more of these techniques, depending on the system requirements. RAID's main aim can be either to improve reliability and availability of data, ensuring that important data is available more often than not (e.g. a database of customer orders), or merely to improve the access speed to files (e.g. for a system that delivers Link Removed due to 404 Error TV programs to many viewers).
The configuration affects reliability and performance in different ways. The problem with using more disks is that it is more likely that one will fail, but by using error checking the total system can be made more reliable by being able to survive and repair the failure. Basic mirroring can speed up reading data as a system can read different data from both the disks, but it may be slow for writing if the configuration requires that both disks must confirm that the data is correctly written. Striping is often used for performance, where it allows sequences of data to be read from multiple disks at the same time. Error checking typically will slow the system down as data needs to be read from several places and compared. The design of RAID systems is therefore a compromise and understanding the requirements of a system is important. Modern Link Removed due to 404 Error typically provide the facility to select the appropriate RAID configuration.

Full article is here: RAID - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[reghakr]

Excellect explanation Kemical.

Is there anything at all that isn't on Wikiopedia
Excellent site!!!

 

[kemical]

Thanks reghakr...
I did read about them shutting it down due to internal squabbles?

 

[reghakr]

WOW!!!

That would be bad news, I've learned so many interesteing facts from Wikiopedia.

 

[kemical]

Same here... I'll see if I can find any news on it when I get back...see you in a few....

 

[reghakr]

A quick search revealled this:

Despite getting an infusion of over one million dollars Wikipedia’s chair woman, Florence Devouard, has suggested that in three or four months the site will ‘disappear’.

Lets see, a site that runs no ads and handles millions of hits with no real plan on how to pay for their infrastructure – sounds like a business plan to me!

Even though the article says the quote that Florence gave was taken out of context, the site can’t remain donation based forever. Wikipedia needs rich benefactors and I see a Google acquisition in its future. It fits into Google’s business plan of acquiring and digitizing a vast majority of the worlds information.

More.....Link Removed

 

[kemical]

Thanks for that..
I also read that the devs had become a kind of closed shop and anything posted on a wiki site which did not pass their inspection was deleted.. I've been trying to find the article without much success...

 

[nehoma]

Thanks for reply Kem, but I have read all the Google and Wiki stuff I could find on RAID. What I was really after was a view of someone who used it. Did they find it worth the expense and how much faster did it make the drive.

Also do you put your OS on to the raid array? And
which is best internal or external?
external looks easier to manage and to set up.

What you all think?

 

[kemical]

Ok, no problem...
Well at the moment my RAID array consists of two 80GB SATA 2 Barracudas which used on there own are pretty un inspiring drives... Used together as RAID 0 though gives the performance of a Rapter drive which is not too be sniffed at..
If you check the screenshot, I just benched the drives using HD Tach..
I've never actually used the external set-ups though and have always stuck with internal set-ups. They can be a little twitchy at times and if one drive goes down then the whole array is lost (meaning your install and data) This has only happened to me one or two times though..

 

[nehoma]

Thanks for that. Hope to hear from others about experiences with RAID