Best storage onfiguration

[aDoBo]

Hi,

 

been trying to figure out whats the best hdd /ssd configuration.

Im going to be studying and running VMs on the PC in a dual with Windows 7 (main OS) - 

 

the storage drive i have are:

2 x 500GB Seagate Baraccuda 7200

1 x 1.TB WD Caviar Green

2 x 32GB SSD NOW100

1 x 120GB Samsung 840 (non-pro)

 

I was originally planning on having the 840 as my boot drive and WD Green as my storage (VMs, files, etc.) - WIN7 OS on SSD, Server 2008 R2, and files on HDD

It started to get confusing the more i looked into the different options people have. For example, why some people would prefer 2x 250GB SSD (RAID0) over a single 500GB SSD - would there be a speed advantage? even more so the types of 'caching' you can have in having a boot drive and half of it to cache for another hdd....any ideas on what would be suitable?

 

(PC spec in signature)...but currently have my boot drive as 2x 32GB SSD (RAID0)...if i swap it out for a single SSD,...IF i was to put the RAID0 SSDs back, would it not wipe the SSDs??

[tycheleto]

Hi,

 

been trying to figure out whats the best hdd /ssd configuration.

Im going to be studying and running VMs on the PC in a dual with Windows 7 (main OS) - 

 

the storage drive i have are:

2 x 500GB Seagate Baraccuda 7200

1 x 1.TB WD Caviar Green

2 x 32GB SSD NOW100

1 x 120GB Samsung 840 (non-pro)

 

I was originally planning on having the 840 as my boot drive and WD Green as my storage (VMs, files, etc.) - WIN7 OS on SSD, Server 2008 R2, and files on HDD

It started to get confusing the more i looked into the different options people have. For example, why some people would prefer 2x 250GB SSD (RAID0) over a single 500GB SSD - would there be a speed advantage? even more so the types of 'caching' you can have in having a boot drive and half of it to cache for another hdd....any ideas on what would be suitable?

 

(PC spec in signature)...but currently have my boot drive as 2x 32GB SSD (RAID0)...if i swap it out for a single SSD,...IF i was to put the RAID0 SSDs back, would it not wipe the SSDs??

 

Running two smaller SSDs in RAID 0 is faster than a single larger SSD, but obviously opens you up to a much larger risk of failure, and can cause a lot more BSODs. Make sure you have a proper backup before running any of these.

 

As far as I am aware, setting up a RAID 0 configuration on a motherboard requires you to use blank drives, so you cannot just keep swapping them in and out as necessary. In fact, most hardware RAID requires blank drives on setup.

 

I'm not sure if you can set up caching for non-OS drives, but if that is possible, it would give you a nice speed boost.

 

And yes, I would run the 120GB SSD as a boot, with the other drives for your data.

[wpirobotbuilder]

How many VMs will you be using at any one point in time?

 

Having lots of them will hit whatever drive they are on drive pretty hard as they will all compete for the storage resources. Depending on the number of them you have, you could set up a dedicated volume with your two 32GB SSDs in RAID 0, and you might actually be able to take advantage of the increased speed.

 

Running two smaller SSDs in RAID 0 is faster than a single larger SSD, but obviously opens you up to a much larger risk of failure, and can cause a lot more BSODs. Make sure you have a proper backup before running any of these.

 

 Usually you won't see a speed increase in anything but sequential transfers, but having tons of VMs will hit the disk at a higher queue depth, which will provide a RAID0 volume with more of a benefit than a single SSD. You have to decide if it's worth the risk of failure and BSODs which, while still small, is a factor.

 

If you're only using the hard drives as storage (i.e. no OS or VMs on it), don't bother with caching, it provides very little benefit. Caching is really useful for an OS drive where all the writes and reads are small.

[Eric1024]

I would advise against SSDs in raid0 if you're going to be running VMs off of them. SSDs suffer in random performance in raid0, and VM's will spit out lots of random IOPS. 

 

You could run your 500GB HDD's in raid 1 and then cache the array with a 32GB SSD. That would give you enough space, throughput, and redundancy to comfortably run a few VMs.

[tycheleto]

How many VMs will you be using at any one point in time?

Having lots of them will hit whatever drive they are on drive pretty hard as they will all compete for the storage resources. Depending on the number of them you have, you could set up a dedicated volume with your two 32GB SSDs in RAID 0, and you might actually be able to take advantage of the increased speed.

Usually you won't see a speed increase in anything but sequential transfers, but having tons of VMs will hit the disk at a higher queue depth, which will provide a RAID0 volume with more of a benefit than a single SSD. You have to decide if it's worth the risk of failure and BSODs which, while still small, is a factor.

If you're only using the hard drives as storage (i.e. no OS or VMs on it), don't bother with caching, it provides very little benefit. Caching is really useful for an OS drive where all the writes and reads are small.

Yay someone with more experience than me in this area.

I was wondering whether caching would be decent if he was running the VM off it, but I wasn't quite sure if the VM functions like an OS drive, and would benefit similarly. Also, if he has the drives lying around, he might as well use them to cache if he's got no other use for them and not planning to sell them. Any performance advantage might as well be taken.

[Ryan Leech]

Just buy a really fast 64 or 120GB SSD and ditch the raid0 32GB ssd's. Instead of those 500GB HDD's just buy a single 1TB like a WD Blue or a Seagate

[wpirobotbuilder]

Just buy a really fast 64 or 120GB SSD and ditch the raid0 32GB ssd's. Instead of those 500GB HDD's just buy a single 1TB like a WD Blue or a Seagate

If he's got the two 32GB drives lying around, why not use them?

 

@aDoBo If random crashes and BSODs become too much of an issue, then do consider getting a single high-performance drive.

[aDoBo]

TYPO***1.5TB WD Green Caviar HDD

 

I would advise against SSDs in raid0 if you're going to be running VMs off of them. SSDs suffer in random performance in raid0, and VM's will spit out lots of random IOPS. 

 

You could run your 500GB HDD's in raid 1 and then cache the array with a 32GB SSD. That would give you enough space, throughput, and redundancy to comfortably run a few VMs.

RAID1 sounds like a good idea, never setup RAID1 before using a cache. is it easy to do?

 

***UPDATE***]

decided to put the 120GB SSD and 1.5TB in my new build.

 

so...2x 500GB in RAID1 using an SSD for caching....please tell me more...would i need a BOOT drive?? or would the boot info be mirrored too???

ALSO...heard alot about people saying Motherboard RAID (which is what im using) is bad and should use a dedicated PCI card RAID...does that still apply for this build?

 

..also..my PSU should be able to handle it OK, right??.....just asking as the current setup, screen blacks out for a 1sec or 2 from time to time (different topic tho..)