How to Make RAID go Faster

[maverik-sg1]

Okay guys,

I now have two Raptor 74GB SATA disk drives set-up in RAID0 (Stripe) configuration.

1st test in PCMark 05 shows no improvement in windows load up times?

I want to understand a bit more about what I might have done wrong and what I need to do to make it perform better?

Cheers

Mav

 

[Master_G]

What stripe size are you using? IIRC smaller is better for booting, small file transfers etc, but larger is better for sustained transfer rates.

G

 

[maverik-sg1]

Just so you guys knwo my set-up is like this:

2x74Gb Raptors in RAID 0 using the NF4 SATA controller (hihger of teh two sets of SATA connectors on DFI layed out 2x2).

Connected to the same controller on 3&4 is 2x200GB SATA drives runnign SATA

So do I need to move teh SATA drives onto the SIL controller or am I missing some magic setting to get teh perfromance I so very much desire from these babies?

Mav

 

[maverik-sg1]

What stripe size are you using? IIRC smaller is better for booting, small file transfers etc, but larger is better for sustained transfer rates.

G

How do I know/change?

I feel such a noob again..... it's great

 

[Master_G]

The Nvidia controller should be better than the silicon image one, the silicon is limited by the PCI bus IIRC.

The options for stripe size should be in the Nvidia controller part, IIRC they do it by a stripe size to OS Cluster Size ratio, and i remember someone said that 4:1 gave the best performance, though i guess you could always try some other ones and see if this is true.

I hope my memory serves me well on this, ive never seen this board in the flesh so it's all based on what i have read in various places at various times.

Hope this helps mate.

G

 

[maverik-sg1]

Okay 4:1 is not an option the opions I get are 16k, 32k, 64k, 128k and optimal - optimal is the one I used.

Also -what if I still run raid off the nf4 but run SATA off the SIL for the two storage drives?

 

[PHILIP1193]

your best bet is getting a pci controller, iirc 16k is best.

chris_ah1 is bit of raid guru he made a brill guide on it, that he could poss post up and u sticky it (pm him about it), real informative it was

phil

 

[JAFFA]

When I set up my RAID0 array I got quite a bit of useful info from this thread at DFI Street Link There's quite a bit of info there but you may find some useful setting if you're willing to sift through it a bit.

 

[Master_G]

Storage review have a good lot of info on RAID here:

http://www.storagereview.com/guide2000/ref/hdd/perf/raid/index.html

I think that you are better sticking with the onboard RAID unless you need more options as PCI RAID cards are limited by the PCI bus, so if you are going to get a card, look for a PCIe one.

The smaller the stripe the better boot and small file transfer is, but you lose out on throughput, so most people use a middle one unless they are transferring lots of little files or lots of large ones. There are also positioning issues as well but i cant remember what they are, it is a while since i read up on it, since at the end i decided not to go with RAID, too much hassle for no real world gain.

G

 

[maverik-sg1]

Thanks for teh information, lots of reading to do.

But at a glance I am quite happy with the set-up I have witht he exception of the two storage drives:

Should I have these controlled by the onboard Sil controller as they are not in a raid config at all? Thus offloading the burden from the NF4 RAID controller?

Mav

 

[Master_G]

I would put them on Sil controller, as single drives they shouldnt be limited by the PCI bus and it may help to reduce strain on the other controller which may increase your speeds marginally.

G