Choosing the right RAID array

[Theinsidiousgeek]

Hi, I need some help. 

I'm planning to build a new computer utilising a GA-Z97N-Gaming 5, a 250gb samsung 840 eve SSD for the boot drive and 3 WD 4tb Red drives. 

 

What I was wondering was what would be the best RAID configuration for the 3x 4TB drive array. Its mostly going to be used as storage for documents, photos and videos and read/write speeds aren't totally critical for me. 

I was thinking RAID 5, would I be correct in saying thats my best chose? 

 

Thanks 

[NeatSquidYT]

Probably 5

[ionbasa]

I would not recomend Raid 5 due to the write hole bug, see: http://www.raid-recovery-guide.com/raid5-write-hole.aspx

 

Maybe try raid 10 or 1+0, it might be your only good alternative.

 

EDIT: although the write hole bug predominantly is talked about in a Raid 5 context, it does affect other Raid setups. Although the write hole bug is fairly rare, it predominantly happens on Raid 5 (statistically speaking).

 

EDIT2: I misread the original post, and thought you wanted to Raid SSDs. Raid 5 on HDDs should technically be fine, but still keep in mind that the write hole bug may be an issue.

 

EDIT3: Raid 10 isn't an option, unless you mind picking up an extra drive, I really should be sleeping now....

[ManWithBeard1990]

To do RAID 10 you need 4 drives. The whole write hole thing is an interesting problem though, but as I understand it, some RAID cards have onboard batteries to address this issue.

[ionbasa]

Oops, my bad. I thought he was using 4 drives. Again, maybe should be sleeping now at 2:00...

[skywake]

Unless I'm mistaken with three disks your only options that use all disks are RAID 0, 1 and 5. 10 needs at least 4 disks so you won't be able to run that. (edit: ninja'd) I'd rule out 0 because there's no redundancy and 1 is probably overkill so that leaves you with 5. Although personally, if it was mine, I would probably setup a RAID 1 across two of the disks and then have the third as a spare. Archive your more important data to the RAID 1 and then use the third disk as a more active disk for games, downloads etc.

 

....... which is actually what my setup is except with 2TB drives not 4TB and the RAID 1 is in a NAS not in my PC

[Guest]

I would avoid RAID 5 unless you have a RAID card, and a good one at that. Software and motherboard RAID aren't that good and RAID 5 is complex. I know you say that read and write speeds aren't that important, but still... Your write speeds will be really bad. If you can afford another drive, I would do RAID 10 or RAID 0+1. Another option would be RAID 10e, which can be done with odd number of drives. I think RAID 10e can be done with 3 drives, but it might require 5... I'm not sure. Also your motherboard doesn't support RAID 10e so you would have to get a RAID card, but if you got one, then you might as well do RAID 5

[Theinsidiousgeek]

I Plan to now do it as a RAID 1. I already have a 4tb drive and will be purchasing a 6tb one. I presume when creating a RAID 1 volume it will be created as a single 4TB array. But lets say in the future I was to swap the 4tb for a 6tb would I be able to rebuild the Array with the 6TB and then enlarge it to the full 6TB without loosing the data? 

[Guest]

I Plan to now do it as a RAID 1. I already have a 4tb drive and will be purchasing a 6tb one. I presume when creating a RAID 1 volume it will be created as a single 4TB array. But lets say in the future I was to swap the 4tb for a 6tb would I be able to rebuild the Array with the 6TB and then enlarge it to the full 6TB without loosing the data? 

In theory, this should work. The array will be restricted to the size of the smallest drive. However, motherboard RAID isn't that good so your motherboard might not like you using different sized drives. When switching to only 6 TB drives, you will have to completely rebuild the array from scratch, as in, whip both drives empty and start over.