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    RAID 0 option, hardware or software?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by terminus123, Jul 12, 2011.

  1. terminus123

    terminus123 Notebook Deity

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    I was wondering for the RAID 0 option on the Alienware M17x, is this hardware RAID 0 (with a RAID card) or software RAID 0?
     
    terminus123, Jul 12, 2011
    #1
  2. Smooth_J

    Smooth_J Notebook Deity

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    Not 100% but I think its hardware, but its not the greatest.
     
    Smooth_J, Jul 12, 2011
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  3. steve1ddd

    steve1ddd Notebook Evangelist

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    simple way to know...if you set it up in the bios or a contoler screen, it is hardware..... if you set it up in windows, its software....dont ever do that.....
     
    steve1ddd, Jul 12, 2011
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  4. terminus123

    terminus123 Notebook Deity

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    o....is the RAID 0 hardware some kind of Nvidia RAID Controller card?
     
    terminus123, Jul 12, 2011
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  5. everythingsablur

    everythingsablur Notebook Evangelist

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    RAID = hard drives = nothing to do with Nvidia (at least not since they got out of the chipset business)

    If it's in the BIOS, it's a function of either the Intel chipset, or something Dell/Alienware has implemented on the mobo.
     
    everythingsablur, Jul 12, 2011
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  6. TostitoBandito

    TostitoBandito Notebook Evangelist

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    It's actually neither hardware or software RAID. It is a hybrid using firmware and a chip on the motherboard, but using the CPU for processing. It is the same integrated chipset RAID controller Intel has been using recently. You take a small CPU hit on all I/O, and more when you do something like a rebuild. Here is a definition from Wikipedia:


    True hardware RAID has dedicated controllers that do all of the processing and legwork as well as hosting the array. The old SCSI RAID controller cards for example. Or more recently, certain external enclosures or PCI-E RAID cards are available with true hardware RAID.
     
    TostitoBandito, Jul 12, 2011
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  7. Beradon

    Beradon Notebook Evangelist

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    As Tostito mentioned it is not hardware RAID, but its not 'hybrid' RAID either. It is technically still software RAID since the processing is not handled by its own chip. The firmware may define a RAID BIOS for the system board but that's all it does. By all definitions it is still purely software.
     
    Beradon, Jul 12, 2011
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  8. LVNeptune

    LVNeptune Notebook Virtuoso

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    Almost anything consumer you buy is software raid. There is nothing below $300-400 DEDICATED that is true-hardware raid.
     
    LVNeptune, Jul 12, 2011
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  9. Smooth_J

    Smooth_J Notebook Deity

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    +1 to above - not sure what I was thinking before...lol
     
    Smooth_J, Jul 13, 2011
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  10. terminus123

    terminus123 Notebook Deity

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    Well if its software RAID, defenitley not going for RAID 0 on M17x, and those SSDs are so expensive! AWs HDD spec configs are really really lacking.
     
    terminus123, Jul 13, 2011
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  11. DR650SE

    DR650SE The Whiskey Barracuda

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    You lose the trim function when you raid ssds anyway. But yea the raid on the m17x laptops is software raid
     
    DR650SE, Jul 13, 2011
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  12. TostitoBandito

    TostitoBandito Notebook Evangelist

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    I think it still falls under a hybrid solution. Software RAID would be using an app or Windows itself to create a psuedo-array using only software.

    In this case, there is a chip on the motherboard, most likely some flavor of Intel Matrix I imagine, based on the two desktops I have with similar chipsets. You can configure arrays outside of the OS in a BIOS menu on boot, and also with Intel's software running in Windows. If it was pure software the BIOS configuration tool would not exist. By definition, a software solution would not be usable until software is installed on the machine.

    Granted, I could be mistaken if Intel has changed how they do this in the most recent mobile Sandy Bridge chipsets, but that is how it functioned previously.
     
    TostitoBandito, Jul 13, 2011
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  13. Beradon

    Beradon Notebook Evangelist

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    I guess more my point was it is incorrect to call it Hybrid raid, although based on this definition I'd still say it is software raid, as the firmware on the chip simply supplies an interface for the Intel RST drivers to manage the raid within Windows.

    See here:

    RAID - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    But to those of you wondering about the capability of SSD drives in such an implementation, I'll speak from experience.

    I have 2 OCZ Vertex (the first ones) 60 gig drives in RAID 0 on my desktop and 4 Western Digital Caviar Black 500 gig drives in RAID 5 running Intel RST (aka Matrix RAID). It runs very well. Admittedly the TRIM function does not work while in a RAID array, however it is still a very high performing setup (upwards of 450MB/s read times, and these are gen 1 vertex drives on SATA II). The garbage collection implementation done by the firmware on these drives is a basic function of them. When there is nothing going on the garbage collection routines clear out previously deleted data just like TRIM would do in an active way. It is a built in function of the firmware and would do it even in a system with TRIM, as it is fundamental to the wear leveling of the drive to ensure that the NAND chips wears evenly.

    I will admit that over time if I dont let the system perform its garbage collection by letting it sit on but unused I will lose a small amount of performance, but letting it sit for a while restores all the lost speed. And by lost performance I'd say its approximately 10%, but if you think about it, a drive that reads at 410 MB/s is still well beyond the capability of plattery drives.

    The system loses no performance due to the fact that it is 'software RAID' or 'firmware RAID', the processors in current systems are well more than powerful enough to handle all the processing required to maintain high performance. Now admittedly a rebuild can take some time, but I can tell you that the current implementation on the cougar point chipsets and even those with the P55 chipset with Intel RST are much faster than on the other system we have with an old X38 chipset.
     
    Beradon, Jul 13, 2011
    #13