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RAID 5 Question

post #1 of 8
9/19/07 at 5:21pm
Thread Starter 
This doesn't really apply to Alienware, but there is a huge knowledge base here on the forums and I figured I would take advantage of it.

I'm planning to build a desktop in the coming months, and am looking at RAID 5 for a mix between performance, data-loss prevention, and capacity that suits my needs. I'm planning on running a 6 to 8 drive array with WD's 500Gb drives. However, I can't decide if a dedicated RAID card versus the integrated RAID on a motherboard is worth the $500 for a dedicated card. Any user experiences/insights are welcome.
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post #2 of 8
9/19/07 at 6:17pm
Toms hardware site has a good article about different raid configure and integrated on broad raid vs dedicated card.
but to answer your questions, dedicate card is always better then build in on broad raid, since you had mention you are going to use raid 5, dedicate card is much better option, on broad raid 5 will take some impact on the CPU and do not have all the advance of the dedicated raid card can offer.

also depend on what you are using the system for, raid 5 is good for read speed and ok for write speed, but if you are setting up a database stuff, you better off run raid 10 or 0+1
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post #3 of 8
9/19/07 at 6:49pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks very much. I basically want to store a lot of data, without fear of losing data via drive failure. I think a dedicated card would also be a good thing in case the mobo dies and needs to be replaced. I am, however, planning to drop in a Quad core, so I'm sure that would handle an onboard RAID 5 array. I just keep adding pros and cons, but I guess I keep trying to figure out how much performance I'll get versus the cost. I'll try to find that TH article too...
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post #4 of 8
9/19/07 at 7:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BFisch06 View Post
Thanks very much. I basically want to store a lot of data, without fear of losing data via drive failure. I think a dedicated card would also be a good thing in case the mobo dies and needs to be replaced. I am, however, planning to drop in a Quad core, so I'm sure that would handle an onboard RAID 5 array. I just keep adding pros and cons, but I guess I keep trying to figure out how much performance I'll get versus the cost. I'll try to find that TH article too...
don't forget raid 6 could be an option if you need it, also if you don't care much about the performance then on broad raid 5 will do just fine
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post #5 of 8
9/19/07 at 8:36pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I imagine if a drive dies I can get a new one quickly and rebuild the array. No need to waste a drive as a secondary fail-safe. I think I'm going to go with a dedicated card because the one I reviewed at Tom's Hardware had the ability to expand capacity while the array was online. That's pretty cool IMO.

Xccess, I could not find the onboard vs. dedicated RAID article at TH. If you have the time, link me please.
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post #6 of 8
9/19/07 at 9:49pm
I think RAID5 allows you to add and take away drives without causing issues. It rebuilds itself if you do it right if I understand it correctly.

I think RAID5 might be overkill for a desktop though. I've only heard of it being used for large servers or computers dedicated to storage and file transfers.

Depending on your needs for space, have you considered setting up multiple dual 500G RAID0 arrays? As long as you have the sata ports, you should be able to fill em up.
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post #7 of 8
9/20/07 at 12:34am
Thread Starter 
The thought occured to me. However, I would rather have data security and RAID 10 is expensive. Once all my data is there I don't plan to change it a lot, nor add in bulk. Files will slowly be added, and I want to minimize the risk of losing data. I think RAID 5 will be the best solution. The more drives I add the lower the percentage of lost disk space due to 1 drive's capacity being used up as the array copies data. I will also be sharing these files on a network, but there shouldn't be more than 10 users, if that. I think the RAID 5 array is the best solution, but I'm trying to get a better grasp on what kind of performance I want. Dedicated cards (quality ones) are expensive, but offer onboard RAM to deal with the parity calculations and cache. While onboard RAID offers simplicity and money to put towards a better process/more RAM/etc.
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post #8 of 8
9/22/07 at 6:28pm
Cool, let us know how it works...

Other than RAID1 and RAID0, I'm pretty much in the dark when it comes to the technical aspects of RAID...
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