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The TX
Gallente Pulsar Combat Supplies Alternative Realities
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Posted - 2009.01.14 11:51:00 -
[1]
I've asked this in the ebuyer.com forums, but I thought I'd get some EVE-ers' opinons too :-) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey gang,
So back in December some time, I mae enquiries in this thread here about getting new hard drives for my comp.
The time has come where I have to make my decision, but I wanna make sure that this is all going to work out fine before I start, and that there's not gonna be anything that I find out I also have to change or invest more in, if that makes sense.
So, my plan is:
- 3x 1TB Samsung F1 Spinpoint thingywhatsit HDDs, arranged in RAID 5, which is like RAID 0 but with parity. I'll get approx 2TB of storage space across the three disks in total, with parity (so if one of the drives dies I'll still be able to recover the data by popping in a new disk (but how do I actually do this? Does it do is automatically when it senses that a drive has been replaced?).
- My two existing Raptor X HDDs, 10k RPM, 150GB each, will be arranged in RAID 0, and I'll create a separate sector (is sector the right word? or is it segment? or 'just a bit at the start of the drive'?) for my Operating System. And the rest will be for all my programs and ****e that can be easily erased at a later date but leaves a nice clean OS still on the disk, so I don't have to have a COMPLETE reinstall at a later date, if needed?
- My choice of operating system: I currently have Windows XP Pro x64, the 64-bit version of Windows XP. I had a discussion in another forum thread about whether to get Vista Ultimate 64-bit. (can't find that thread now, for some reason). I will probably have to give in to Vista eventually, and I do have 4GB of RAM, so it should run reasonably smoothly, lol. My problem is that I can only find Vista Ultimate 64 as an OEM product, and not as a propper consumer product - why is this? As far as I can remember, my current OS, XPx64, is also an OEM product, so if I have to get an OEM Vista, then not to worry too much.
Will the RAID arrangement described above be ok without extra RAID hardware? Will I be getting pretty decent performance? I don't wanna set this all up and then find out I'm gonna need to buy a RAID controller as well....
At the moment, I don't think I need to add anything else here, but keep an eye on this first post in case I have to add anything.
Any help is appreciated, but if there's anyone that can completely and wholly (spelling?) put down in black and white a confirmation/correction/suggestion for everything I've said I need in this post, then that'll help me rest my brain a bit and start making purchases without the worry of 'is this right?'.
Thanks chaps,
TX out. |
Taua Roqa
Minmatar Silhouette Soliloquy
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Posted - 2009.01.14 12:00:00 -
[2]
i have used mobo raid 5, the array will automatically rebuild itself should one drive fail and you plug in another (well it does with intel mobo raid). will take quite a while though :)
not sure about hardware raid, but the cards i've seen have like a ton of memory and a fat CPU on them, so they must be better is my thinking :P
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clone 1
Laughing Leprechauns Corporation Lotto Syndicate
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Posted - 2009.01.14 12:16:00 -
[3]
Retail Vista Ultimate comes with both 32+64 bit disks. Why not buy OEM if its cheap and you can get away with it. Why not wait until end of year for Windows 7 64bit? What Raid controller are you using?
You can even download windows 7 64 beta now try it out and see what you think. -------------------------------------------------- The Angels Have the Phone Box |
The TX
Gallente Pulsar Combat Supplies Alternative Realities
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Posted - 2009.01.14 12:53:00 -
[4]
Originally by: clone 1 Retail Vista Ultimate comes with both 32+64 bit disks. Why not buy OEM if its cheap and you can get away with it. Why not wait until end of year for Windows 7 64bit? What Raid controller are you using?
You can even download windows 7 64 beta now try it out and see what you think.
I'd like the option of product support, even though I probably would never need it - that's why the retail 64bit would benefit me. But I could quite easily live with the OEM version.
End of the year? I'm a now-man. I have to get these things sorted when I think of them - I have no patience in this area, lol. not only that, but I wanna get on and use everything, don't wanna be waiting for bits and pieces to fall into place.
I'm not using a RAID controller -that's what I asked in the OP - I dunno if I should ahve a dedicated RAID controller or not. If so, where do they plug in, and how do I use them? I have an Asus P5K-E/Wifi-apo$%ú^%" motherboard. If that helps. |
clone 1
Laughing Leprechauns Corporation Lotto Syndicate
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Posted - 2009.01.14 13:21:00 -
[5]
Yes, your board does support raid, through the ICH9R. This is a software raid and with RAID5 you will use 10-15% cpu on it. Drive failure rebuild are fine if a little slow with the ICH9R.
If it was me, I would go for a Hardware Raid solution something like the adaptec Ex4350, its a PCIe 4x card that plugs in to one of your pcie slots on the board.Supports hot-swap, It has 64MB ECC DDR on board , and will offer a magnitude of stability and performance over the software raid of the ICH9R. Leave the ICH9R handle the Raid-0 with the Raptors.
Also I am not sure if your onboard raid will support both RAID5 and RAID0 functions through the ICH9R. I know the adaptec bios version can (some higher end boards had a option to use intel or adaptec bioses and raid managment through ICH9R).
-------------------------------------------------- The Angels Have the Phone Box |
Es' Tartu
Native Freshfood
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Posted - 2009.01.14 13:25:00 -
[6]
Edited by: Es'' Tartu on 14/01/2009 13:27:11 RAID5 without a hardware controller is a pain. And even with a separate controller you have to be careful to choose one that has hardware acceleration (XOR unit). Additionally for secure safe operations on a raid 5/6 with good performance those cards also need an additional battery pack. So just for the controller it is roughly 500Ç (includes the battery pack)
It is nice to have the security but it is also expensive.
PS: i would go with 4 drives on a raid 5, less waste of space 3 drives useable 1 drive parity
PS/2: 3WARE 9650SE-8LPML + Battery Pack (a controller i like)
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Cedric Diggory
Perfunctory Oleaginous Laocoon Mugwumps
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Posted - 2009.01.14 13:27:00 -
[7]
Forget the OS just now if you have disks for at least one copy and grab yourself a copy of Windows 7 to try on the new rig. If you're creating a seperate OS partition this shouldn't be an obstacle when you have to downgrade again, and it means you can be right up on the bleeding edge: Eve runs on Win7, and that's all that matters after all!
Your raid arrangement sounds fine, though a secondary raid controller would improve performance unless you're going to be writing a lot of data back to the raid 5 you shouldn't have a serious issue with performance. Yes, a raid 5 array will inform you if a disk fails and all you need to do is slot another one in and it'll rebuild the array for you.
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The TX
Gallente Pulsar Combat Supplies Alternative Realities
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Posted - 2009.01.14 13:29:00 -
[8]
Edited by: The TX on 14/01/2009 13:31:36
Originally by: clone 1 Yes, your board does support raid, through the ICH9R. This is a software raid and with RAID5 you will use 10-15% cpu on it. Drive failure rebuild are fine if a little slow with the ICH9R.
Where did you find out this info? What will the CPU usage be for RAID 10 or RAID 01?
Originally by: clone 1 If it was me, I would go for a Hardware Raid solution something like the adaptec Ex4350, its a PCIe 4x card that plugs in to one of your pcie slots on the board.Supports hot-swap, It has 64MB ECC DDR on board , and will offer a magnitude of stability and performance over the software raid of the ICH9R. Leave the ICH9R handle the Raid-0 with the Raptors.
PCIe.... I think my graphics card is plugged into a PCIe slot - dunno if I've got two PCIe slots or whether there's enough room in there (what with the graphics card being quite big and all....) Just looked inside the case - the graphics card is basically level with the next slot down, whatever type of slot that is - so if the RAID controller card 'sticks out' to the 'wrong side' for me, then it won't fit... unless all cards 'stick out' in the same direction(?).
EDIT: Just looked up my Mobo again on Asus website - the two PCIe slots are far, far apart - so this won't be a problem! lol.
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Originally by: Slade Trillgon Holy wall of text TX-Man.
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Es' Tartu
Native Freshfood
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Posted - 2009.01.14 13:55:00 -
[9]
Originally by: The TX
EDIT: Just looked up my Mobo again on Asus website - the two PCIe slots are far, far apart - so this won't be a problem! lol.
PCIe has different slot lengths, x16, x8, x4, x2 and x1 ... every smaller card fits also into a bigger slots, as long as it is PCIe.
i.e. a PCIe raid controller card for x1 fits in all PCIe slots. x4 only in x4 and above yada yada |
The TX
Gallente Pulsar Combat Supplies Alternative Realities
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Posted - 2009.01.14 14:02:00 -
[10]
Originally by: Es' Tartu
Originally by: The TX
EDIT: Just looked up my Mobo again on Asus website - the two PCIe slots are far, far apart - so this won't be a problem! lol.
PCIe has different slot lengths, x16, x8, x4, x2 and x1 ... every smaller card fits also into a bigger slots, as long as it is PCIe.
i.e. a PCIe raid controller card for x1 fits in all PCIe slots. x4 only in x4 and above yada yada
I learned something new today. Thanks!
According to the asus website, this is what my mobo has, PCIe-wise... "2 x PCIe x16 (blue @ x16 mode, black @ x4 or x1 mode) supports CrossFire Technology"
The x16 is used up by my GFX card - so I only have a x4 to play with - but most of the pictures of RAID controllers that's I've breezed past look small compared to my GFX card, so I'm hoping I'm onto a winner.
- - -
Originally by: Slade Trillgon Holy wall of text TX-Man.
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Es' Tartu
Native Freshfood
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Posted - 2009.01.14 14:06:00 -
[11]
Originally by: The TX
According to the asus website, this is what my mobo has, PCIe-wise... "2 x PCIe x16 (blue @ x16 mode, black @ x4 or x1 mode) supports CrossFire Technology"
The x16 is used up by my GFX card - so I only have a x4 to play with - but most of the pictures of RAID controllers that's I've breezed past look small compared to my GFX card, so I'm hoping I'm onto a winner.
Most RAID cards are x1 or x4, so yeah you should be fine. |
clone 1
Laughing Leprechauns Corporation Lotto Syndicate
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Posted - 2009.01.14 14:15:00 -
[12]
Edited by: clone 1 on 14/01/2009 14:16:05
Originally by: The TX Edited by: The TX on 14/01/2009 13:31:36
Originally by: clone 1 Yes, your board does support raid, through the ICH9R. This is a software raid and with RAID5 you will use 10-15% cpu on it. Drive failure rebuild are fine if a little slow with the ICH9R.
Where did you find out this info? What will the CPU usage be for RAID 10 or RAID 01?
Raid 10 (0+1) and Raid0, and Raid1 will be lower cpu usage of course as no parity calculations are being done. These are pretty much real word performance numbers.
If you want some really deep answers, try storagereview or arstechnica, very good sources of info.
-------------------------------------------------- The Angels Have the Phone Box |
Vabjekf
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Posted - 2009.01.14 15:03:00 -
[13]
just use the XP you have and wait for windows 7 |
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