SSD RAID 10 OR SSD RAID 0 w/ NAS

[fabio73]

In the long process of selecting parts for my RIG, and I'm trying to decide which would be a better set up, a RAID 10 or a RAID 0 w/ NAS.  I'm looking for performance and stability/reliability.

 

PARTS RUNDOWN:

The SSD I'll be using for either RAID 10 or RAID 0 set up is the Samsung 850 Pro (512MB).  For the NAS, I'm looking at the Synology DS213j, putting a WD Red WD60EFRX (6TB) drive inside.  I'll also have a WD Black Series WD4003FZEX (4TB) drive for general storage.  All drives, with the exception of any NAS drives, are going inside of a Corsair 350d.

 

If the RAID 0 w/ NAS is the better option, then does anyone have any personal feedback on the Synology DS213j (or perhaps another NAS manufacturer)?  Or should I just set up the RAID 0 for now, then build my own $400-$500 NAS later down the road?

 

Thank you for all your advice in advanced!!

[ShadowCaptain]

I run SSDs in my rig, Raid 0 drives in my laptop (and boot ssd) and I run a home server (basically acting as a NAS) which runs raid 10 wd red drives

 

Means I get speed, mass storage and redundancy, the computers are set to auto backup at night, and the server runs plex to distribute media for all users

[Captain_Slow]

I don't find RAID 10 works very well with intel integraded RAID controllers, at least in write speeds.

I'm not sure why it's RAID 10 vs the 213j, since RAID 10 requires 4 drives and the 213j is 2 drives.

 

And are you going to RAID 10 with 4 Samsung 850pros?

 

Sorry just trying to understand your options.

 

because RAID 10 with 4x850p = 1TB storage, 2 6TB Red in RAID 1 inside a 213j yields 6TB of storage.

[fabio73]

I don't find RAID 10 works very well with intel integraded RAID controllers, at least in write speeds.

I'm not sure why it's RAID 10 vs the 213j, since RAID 10 requires 4 drives and the 213j is 2 drives.

 

And are you going to RAID 10 with 4 Samsung 850pros?

 

Sorry just trying to understand your options.

 

because RAID 10 with 4x850p = 1TB storage, 2 6TB Red in RAID 1 inside a 213j yields 6TB of storage.

 

Yes, RAID 10 would be with 4 Samsung 850 Pros (512MB) and a WD Black Series (4TB) for storage.  The SSDs would only have the OS, games, and other programs on it with files being stored on the WD drive.  The reason for considering RAID 10 is I definitely want to RAID 0 2 SSDs, and RAID 10 will help protect my OS if one of the drives fails.

 

The RAID 0 set-up would be with 2 Samsung 850 Pros (512MB) and a WD Black Series (4TB) for storage with the DS213j backing up the SSDs and the WD Back onto 1 WD Red 6TB drive.  Though, adding a second 6TB drive and putting them in RAID 1 would probably be the best option.  Setting up this way will help back up the SSDs and my WD Black drive.

[Captain_Slow]

Yes, RAID 10 would be with 4 Samsung 850 Pros (512MB) and a WD Black Series (4TB) for storage. The SSDs would only have the OS, games, and other programs on it with files being stored on the WD drive. The reason for considering RAID 10 is I definitely want to RAID 0 2 SSDs, and RAID 10 will help protect my OS if one of the drives fails.

The RAID 0 set-up would be with 2 Samsung 850 Pros (512MB) and a WD Black Series (4TB) for storage with the DS213j backing up the SSDs and the WD Back onto 1 WD Red 6TB drive. Though, adding a second 6TB drive and putting them in RAID 1 would probably be the best option. Setting up this way will help back up the SSDs and my WD Black drive.

Can you briefly describe the kinds of workloads you will be doing on this computer?

[fabio73]

Can you briefly describe the kinds of workloads you will be doing on this computer?

 

My rig will be used for gaming, live streaming on Twitch, and audio editing ringtones for my RingtoneAttack blog.

[wpirobotbuilder]

If you want reliability, then RAID 10 is the way to go. A RAID 0 with 4 SSDs will give you very little benefit over a RAID 10, because you will start maxing out your SATA controller. I'd rather go with the reliability.

[FedCOM]

I would ask if you really need RAID 10 for this?

Have you ran your step on a single 850 Pro and found performance issues?

If you really want to protect your OS I would say RAID 1 is enough, even though I do not really like RAID too much since if the controler dies your options of recovering that data EASILY are limited.

 

Having said that if you will store your stuff on the NAS and do backups to a NAS you should be fully covered.

 

Honestly for most things RAID and SSDs should be considered for reliability and not for performance since you will most of the time not even notice a difference between those two setups.

[fabio73]

If you want reliability, then RAID 10 is the way to go. A RAID 0 with 4 SSDs will give you very little benefit over a RAID 10, because you will start maxing out your SATA controller. I'd rather go with the reliability.

 

I'm not using RAID 0 with 4 SSDs, only 2, and to cover the reliability portion, I'll use a NAS.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

RAID 0 with NAS.  I went for that approach myself. 

 

Because I only used 128GB SSDs for my system array, I do have a 3rd SSD (1TB 840EVO) for local data storage, mostly for large downloads or when I'm ripping and muxing Blu-rays.  With the 512GB ones, you should have ample space so you probably won't need that. 

[fabio73]

I would ask if you really need RAID 10 for this?

Have you ran your step on a single 850 Pro and found performance issues?

If you really want to protect your OS I would say RAID 1 is enough, even though I do not really like RAID too much since if the controler dies your options of recovering that data EASILY are limited.

 

Having said that if you will store your stuff on the NAS and do backups to a NAS you should be fully covered.

 

Honestly for most things RAID and SSDs should be considered for reliability and not for performance since you will most of the time not even notice a difference between those two setups.

 

I haven't purchased the SSDs or built the RIG as of yet so I haven't run any performance tests.  I'm starting to think that RAID 10 isn't the way to go with RAID 0 w/ NAS is the better option; especially from a cost and storage volume stand point.

[fabio73]

RAID 0 with NAS.  I went for that approach myself. 

 

Because I only used 128GB SSDs for my system array, I do have a 3rd SSD (1TB 840EVO) for local data storage, mostly for large downloads or when I'm ripping and muxing Blu-rays.  With the 512GB ones, you should have ample space so you probably won't need that. 

 

RAID 0 w/ NAS I'm thinking is the best option for performance while ensuring that if one of the SSDs fails, I still have the entire OS backed up on the NAS.

[DirkW]

RAID 0 w/ NAS I'm thinking is the best option for performance while ensuring that if one of the SSDs fails, I still have the entire OS backed up on the NAS.

 

Probably you won't even need RAID 0 on SSDs. Good ones are pretty damn fast in single configuration already. What makes SSD feel so fast is mostly their access time, not as much their linear read and write speeds (which are still very good on single drives as well).