RAID 10

[NikonJR]

I am in the process of making a build on PCPartpicker, and was wondering if it is better to use RAID 10 with 4 1TB HDDs that add up to the total of around $120, or if it's better to simply buy the Western Digital Black 2TB HDD.

Also, if you suggest RAID 10, is RAID 10 supported by default on a BIOS? Is there any needed hardware? Anything tips for a first-time RAID user?

Your replies are appreciated. Thanks for reading.

[martward]

Theoretically it should be better to use a raid config, since it is safer (a maximum of two drives can fail) and faster, but I'm not sure if it is recommended to install an OS on. Most motherboards support RAID 0,1 and 10 but you should check the product page of the motherboard.

[NikonJR]

Theoretically it should be better to use a raid config, since it is safer (a maximum of two drives can fail) and faster, but I'm not sure if it is recommended to install an OS on. Most motherboards support RAID 0,1 and 10 but you should check the product page of the motherboard.

Do you think it would be a good idea to use an SSD for the OS, and then use the RAID 10 configuration for installing games and storing document on?

[scottyseng]

Do you think it would be a good idea to use an SSD for the OS, and then use the RAID 10 configuration for installing games and storing document on?

 

That would probably be better. The hard drives you use for the RAID 10 config, make sure you use RAID rated drives like the WD red, Red pro, or their enterprise lineup. Do not use Blacks, Greens, or Blues in RAID. The motherboard should easily be able to set it up or if you're on Intel, you can use Intel's Rapid Storage Technology software to build the RAID 10 array.

 

The four 1TBs would be faster, but they would lose out to the SSD. A single 2TB can't compete with the RAID 10 array, but the RAID 10 array costs quite a bit more.

[martward]

Do you think it would be a good idea to use an SSD for the OS, and then use the RAID 10 configuration for installing games and storing document on?

If you have the money for it, sure. I think most people don't do it because they don't really need that speed for the files on their PC. 

I just realise that it's probably not even possible to install windows on a RAID config, since I believe you need to have an OS installed on your PC to even set up a RAID config, by which time you probably will not be able to use the disk windows is installed on to set up the config since it will format you drives.

[NikonJR]

If you have the money for it, sure. I think most people don't do it because they don't really need that speed for the files on their PC. 

I just realise that it's probably not even possible to install windows on a RAID config, since I believe you need to have an OS installed on your PC to even set up a RAID config, by which time you probably will not be able to use the disk windows is installed on to set up the config since it will format you drives.

  

That would probably be better. The hard drives you use for the RAID 10 config, make sure you use RAID rated drives like the WD red, Red pro, or their enterprise lineup. Do not use Blacks, Greens, or Blues in RAID. The motherboard should easily be able to set it up or if you're on Intel, you can use Intel's Rapid Storage Technology software to build the RAID 10 array.

 

The four 1TBs would be faster, but they would lose out to the SSD. A single 2TB can't compete with the RAID 10 array, but the RAID 10 array costs quite a bit more.

Alright. Now how much CPU usage would the RAID configuration take up, if any at all?

[scottyseng]

  Alright. Now how much CPU usage would the RAID configuration take up, if any at all?

 

Not much at all. You're looking at 1-4% at most. RAID 10 is very easy on the CPU since there are no calculations involved with it.

[martward]

  Alright. Now how much CPU usage would the RAID configuration take up, if any at all?

It will take up some CPU usage, but according to the guy who wrote the article below not that much, especially for CPU's with more cores.

http://augmentedtrader.com/2012/05/13/10-things-raid/

[NikonJR]

It will take up some CPU usage, but according to the guy who wrote the article below not that much, especially for CPU's with more cores.

http://augmentedtrader.com/2012/05/13/10-things-raid/

  

Not much at all. You're looking at 1-4% at most. RAID 10 is very easy on the CPU since there are no calculations involved with it.

Alright, well I'll reply back here is I have any more questions or updates. Thanks for your answers. Goodnight.

[Helly]

If you have the money for it, sure. I think most people don't do it because they don't really need that speed for the files on their PC. 

I just realise that it's probably not even possible to install windows on a RAID config, since I believe you need to have an OS installed on your PC to even set up a RAID config, by which time you probably will not be able to use the disk windows is installed on to set up the config since it will format you drives.

This is wrong. RAID has its own bios, which shows up usually before the post stuff of ur normal bios. On intel you need to press CTRL+i to get into it. Then you can setup ur RAID. I think its CTRL+H on amd. Its a TINY bit trickier to do this way but still very easy. Also on a mothboard controller you do NOT need raid rated drives. Its fine to go with greens blacks or whatever you want. Ive used the same blacks in raid-0 for years on 3 different PC's. They still work fine. With hardware RAID cards you HAVE to use raid rated drives.

[martward]

This is wrong. RAID has its own bios, which shows up usually before the post stuff of ur normal bios. On intel you need to press CTRL+i to get into it. Then you can setup ur RAID. I think its CTRL+H on amd. Its a TINY bit trickier to do this way but still very easy. Also on a mothboard controller you do NOT need raid rated drives. Its fine to go with greens blacks or whatever you want. Ive used the same blacks in raid-0 for years on 3 different PC's. They still work fine. With hardware RAID cards you HAVE to use raid rated drives.

Oh okay thanks for correcting me . 

[Drixen]

People often overlook that with raiding, especially if dealing with sensitive information.. it's best to pair any raid with at least a NAS rated hard drive. Something that will compliment raiding a lot. Might be worth the extra $40-$50. Just an idea.

[Helly]

that is true. But also logical, if its sensitive data always go with the better drives and always have a backup even when raiding drives. But it really comes down to how much you want to keep your data. If its games from steam, who cares if the drive fails, you can just replace them and re-download the games, its not the end of the world. If however its something that can never be recovered like video recordings or important documents then it's not a bad idea to go a bit overkill on the drives and the backups.

 

I've got video recordings here i absolutely don't want to lose. So i got them stored on a RAID-6, backed up on my PC, and another backup on an offline drive. So a pretty slim chance i will ever lose that data.