Exploring RAID 0

[fluffmonster]

For my impending Win7 installation, I'm considering a RAID 0 setup. I already have another identical WD caviar black 640GB sitting downstairs. I'm am not concerned about hdd failure as I have ample means of backing up my drive. I've never done a raid setup before, so that adds to my curiosity.

What kind of speed gains can I expect from RAID 0? Meaningful for OS booting or game load times?

Does my mobo (in sig) have hardware raid, and if not does it matter?

If I were to go raid, any other settings I should be mindful of (such as AHCI?)

[kent1146]

My advice is don't bother with RAID-0 on a desktop / gaming system.

I could go into why, if you want. But basically, the only people who benefit from RAID-0 are people who load large, sequential files. These types of loads are typically professional video and photo editors. Regular desktop users / gamers won't see much benefit.

I have held that belief for quite some time, and confirmed it when I received an extra 74GB WD Raptor drive. I combined it with my pre-existing drive into a RAID-0 config, and had no noticable improvements in speed at all. Nothing. Not in boot times, not in load times. I'm sure that there is probably a SLIGHT improvement, but nothing noticeable. It is so small, that it isn't even worth the 2 hours it took to reformat my machine.

If you want TREMENDOUS speed improvements, get yourself a SSD, like an Intel X-25 or an OCZ Vertex. I got one of those earlier this week, and I can tell you... THAT makes the upgrade worthwhile.

[James]

kent1146,

The latest in the line of converts to SSD goodness.

Glad to hear that you are still enjoying it so much.

[Nater]

RAID 0 will add time to your boot, it'll cut time for app loading. The absolute bestest way to do it is a small, super fast SSD for the OS (think upcoming Gen2 SLC intel SSDs) with two larger MLC drives in RAID 0 for applications.

[fluffmonster]

Thanks for the thoughts. SSD isn't in the cards...the only reason I was willing to even consider RAID is that I have both drives on hand.

Thus, my question turns to how to partition the harddrives for Win7. Use one for data and one for the OS obviously, but would there be any net benefit to some other configuration?

[kent1146]

Personally, I would go with a RAID-1 mirrored configuration, just for data redundancy. But if this is not a concern for you, then just leave the two of the drives as un-RAIDed independent disks. Put OS/apps on one disk, and your media (pictures, files, music, videos, porn, etc) on the other disk. You get full use of all of your disk space, without introducing the risks and headaches of RAID-0. You can also move / swap the drives out without having to re-construct your data, reformat your machine without having to back up your media, and install Windows without having to load RAID drivers.

But if you insist on RAIDing, then go with RAID-0. There really isn't any benefit to doing this, except to satisfy any curiosity you have about RAID.

[ua549]

I also like to mount volumes in an empty folder on the C: volume so that everything is accessible via the single volume letter.

For example I have a raid 5 volume mounted on a raid 1 volume in a folder called Data. The files on the raid 5 volume can be accessed via D:\ or C:\Data.

[Channel007]

I also like to mount volumes in an empty folder on the C: volume so that everything is accessible via the single volume letter.

For example I have a raid 5 volume mounted on a raid 1 volume in a folder called Data. The files on the raid 5 volume can be accessed via D:\ or C:\Data.

I never thought of that trick. Whats the command to pull that off?

[ua549]

Set up an empty folder on the volume where the other volume will be mounted.
Open Disk Management; right click the volume that is to be mounted; click change drive letter and paths; enter the path to the mount point.

If you don't want the mounted volume to be accessible directly via drive letter, select unassigned for the letter.
Otherwise, the volume will be accessible via both the drive letter and the mount point.