The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Raid 0 with HDDs or SSD

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by aldam, Apr 7, 2011.

  1. aldam

    aldam Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    39
    Messages:
    446
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Hi,

    My laptop has a possibility to create a raid 0.
    I checked whether the manufacturer had attached the basket for the second drive and it turned out that it had.
    It makes me very happy because the cost and availability of the piece of metal is terrible.

    Now I’ve got Toshiba 250gb 7200rpm drive 2556gsy installed. Very quiet and quite fast.
    I’m thinking of buying a second toshiba drive to make a raid 0.
    But maybe much better option is bying 60gb ssd for OS.
    Unfortunately I haven’t found tests which compare raid 0 of two 2.5” HDDs with ssd.
    I must add that for example f60 costs tree times more than 250gb toshiba.

    Thanks for any tests, suggestions, etc.
     
    aldam, Apr 7, 2011
    #1
  2. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

    Reputations:
    1,098
    Messages:
    2,594
    Likes Received:
    19
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Unless you're dealing in sequential read/write, RAID 0 of 2 HDDs will be slower than a SSD, especially in what some people consider to be the most important 4K read/writes. As well, access times are significantly higher. So the end result is, a RAID 0 array of HDDs will be faster in large file copies, but in terms of program access and general "snap", it still won't come anywhere close to a SSD.
     
    Judicator, Apr 7, 2011
    #2
  3. TomJG90

    TomJG90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    46
    Messages:
    425
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    +1 vote for SSD+ HDD combo. Its economical and gives you speed too. I don't trust RAID 0... heard horror stories about it. Seriously a SSD+ 500GB Momentus XT combo like mine would be the best.
     
    TomJG90, Apr 8, 2011
    #2
  4. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,431
    Messages:
    58,189
    Likes Received:
    17,900
    Trophy Points:
    931
    I went for both lol.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 8, 2011
    #2
  5. TomJG90

    TomJG90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    46
    Messages:
    425
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    lol 3 hard drive slots? You can do that but hey when your software RAID crashes , good luck dude.
     
    TomJG90, Apr 9, 2011
    #3
  6. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,431
    Messages:
    58,189
    Likes Received:
    17,900
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Then I re-install steam and carry on. Backup any important data.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 9, 2011
    #4
  7. INEEDMONEY

    INEEDMONEY Homicidal Teddy Bear

    Reputations:
    356
    Messages:
    1,419
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I've been running RAID 0 for over a year now. No issue. Like Meaker said...keep all your important stuff backed up (as you should regardless of RAID or not) and you'll be fine.

    But SSD will be faster, so the SSD + HDD combo would be my vote
     
    INEEDMONEY, Apr 9, 2011
    #5
  8. jclausius

    jclausius Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    6,160
    Messages:
    3,265
    Likes Received:
    2,573
    Trophy Points:
    231
    In regards to SSD based RAID, there are other things to keep in mind. For example, the lack of TRIM from RAID 0 drivers might eventually be a problem. Just be prepared if you need to back everything up, securely wipe the drive to reset the NAND flash, and reinstall if you write enough data to the RAID drives that you notice a performance issue when writing to the drive.

    Additional info:

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...ger-np7280-owners-lounge-312.html#post7137026

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...uestion-raid-trim-concerns-6.html#post6019049
     
    jclausius, Apr 9, 2011
    #6
  9. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,431
    Messages:
    58,189
    Likes Received:
    17,900
    Trophy Points:
    931
    I dont think SSD raid was on the cards... A little too pricey for the OP.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 10, 2011
    #7
  10. jclausius

    jclausius Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    6,160
    Messages:
    3,265
    Likes Received:
    2,573
    Trophy Points:
    231
    You're right. Sorry, I read INEEDMONEY's post incorrectly. Thought I saw it say SSD / RAID combo is faster.

    In any case, if anyone *is* considering SSD + RAID0, please do some research and know what you are getting into.
     
    jclausius, Apr 10, 2011
    #8
  11. devilcm3

    devilcm3 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    273
    Messages:
    722
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    using SSD RAID , you'll lose the TRIM function .
     
    devilcm3, Apr 10, 2011
    #9
  12. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

    Reputations:
    5,398
    Messages:
    12,692
    Likes Received:
    2,717
    Trophy Points:
    631

    As with most things in life, just because you 'can' - doesn't mean you 'should'. ;)


    See:
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...5112-why-ssds-raid0-make-almost-no-sense.html


    I too recommend an SSD + HDD setup.

    RAID is so 1999. This is 2011. :D :p :D
     
    tilleroftheearth, Apr 10, 2011
    #10
  13. jclausius

    jclausius Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    6,160
    Messages:
    3,265
    Likes Received:
    2,573
    Trophy Points:
    231
    Yep. See post.
     
    jclausius, Apr 10, 2011
    #11
  14. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    801
    Messages:
    3,881
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Raid 0 works until it doesn't. The only failure mode for raid 0 is 100% data loss.
     
    newsposter, Apr 10, 2011
    #12
  15. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,431
    Messages:
    58,189
    Likes Received:
    17,900
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Same for no raid.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 10, 2011
    #13
  16. TomJG90

    TomJG90 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    46
    Messages:
    425
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Not really. You have some chance to recover but depends from situation to situation. However RAID 0 is certainly more dangerous as far as data recovery goes.. You're way less likely to get your data back for any failures.
     
    TomJG90, Apr 10, 2011
    #14