Using Samsung 840 EVO SSDs in Hardware or Software RAID?

I’ve done a lot of research but can find no definitive answer, so I’m hoping to get some advice from SSD experts:

I have two 1TB Samsung 840 EVO SSDs and two 1TB Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSDs (a lot of storage, I know) in my Sager 8258-S (Clevo P157SM-A). I am running my OS, apps, and games off one SSD and I would like to combine the other three to make one large drive (I do have a backup solution to cover this) to store my massive file library. I’m only torn on what method to use:

1. Is it best to go the hardware route utilizing RAID 0 in the BIOS/UEFI?

2. Or should I combine the SSDs in software RAID using MS Storage Spaces/Disk Management (I’m using Win 8.1 Pro)?

Really what I’m looking for at the end of the day is having the convenience of my files in one place meet the performance and reliability of the SSDs (RAPID mode for the OS SSD, TRIM support, etc).

 

I would go for option 2 myself.

That way, you should be able to migrate your data to any new system, rather than depending on the specific/proprietary RAID hardware of your current machine.


Good luck.

 

Rapid mode only supports 1 SSD and Samsung SSD Magician probably needs to be able to see the SSD in order to do the configuration. It might well get confused by a RAID configuration.

I also found when I first installed my EVO mSATA that having Intel Rapid Storage installed blocked SSD Magician from being able to read the SMART data. It's possible that the updated SSD Magician includes a fix for this. Since I have only one drive on my computer I have no real need for IRST and haven't tried re-installing it.

John

 

Firstly, there is no hardware raid in a laptop. the Intel raid is software raid.

if I am not mistaken , the Ms option just make the drive "look as one" , and I think the data is filled to one drive first until it is full.(didnt bother to Google, please correct me)

I wouldn't bother to "raid" the drives if all you want is make them look as one drive. so option 2~~~

 

I don't know if this is still accurate but:

1: if you go "hardware" (I think the more accurate term is BIOS RAID since it's not true Hardware RAID due to lack of offloading) IRST route, you get the benefits of TRIM on your SSDs. The biggest disadvantage is that the volume is basically immobile, if your machine craps out (and its not the fault of the storage) then your RAID array pretty much dies with it since it's unlikely to be recoverable from another machine. What you do gain is slightly better performance and transparency (i.e. Windows sees a single normal disk drive) thus allowing it to be booted from.

2. If you go MS RAID, you gain the benefit of portability (i.e. the RAID will always be recognized by Windows 7 or Later hence is transportable to another machine), however, correct me if I'm wrong but I think you lose TRIM functionality. Windows will always see it as a Dynamic disk.

Storage Spaces I heard was still not fully fleshed out in Windows 8.1 so I wouldn't trust it just yet.

 

Thanks all for the prompt feedback!

Marksman30k has a point. My understanding is the in a software RAID 0 MS and Magician could still see the SSDs as individual disks and thus still be able to perform TRIM and other maintenance/features (ie OP) on them.

I did a quick Google search on the subject and results are mixed, has anyone ever actually tested this or can verify this indeed works?

 

Don't RAID. Just manage them separately. I say this coming from a multitude of failed efforts getting any kind of reliable RAID setup (other than RAID 1/Mirror) to work successfully without intermittent hang ups or lost data, SSD, HDD, or otherwise. Unless you have files 100GB or larger you want to manage, I'd suggest just splitting the drives as two 1TB.

Intel "hardware" RAID will work and it will TRIM with IRST. But it's still an unstable solution IMHO.

 

OK, so did some playing around and here is what I can definitely day:

1. DON'T USE RAID WITH SSDs!

2. Storage Spaces is suprisingly efficient for tricking the system into thinking that the software RAID is a hardware (i.e. BIOS) RAID. The downside is Samsung Magician actually reads the drives as being in a hardware RAID configuration and none of the goodies will work.

3. The sweet spot between the two is simply spanning the SSDs. Samsung Magician still reads the drives individually which allows for the maintenance and I have noticed no degradation of performance.

Just my observations, hopefully this will save some future folks the headache of figuring out which method is best for them.

 

I always thought that RAID 0 on an SSD is pointless and only does you good in benchmarks but for the average joe or even a power user he won't notice any difference in his workload in real life. Unless offcourse all someone does is copy large 10GB + files all the time from one partition to the other which I doubt anyone does. But 4K speeds don't improve in RAID 0 sometimes their even lower with higher latency (correct me if I'm wrong)

Here is a comparison I did when I had my two 1 840 EVO 1TB in RAID 0 mode vs RAPID mode, take not of the 4K speed results:

So here are benchmarks of my two 1 TB Samsung 840 EVO SSDs, both in RAID 0 and in RAPID. The 4K speeds are horrible in RAID 0, how come???


AS SSD Benchmark with IRST 12.9.0.1001 in RAID 0 (W8.1)



AS SSD Benchmark with IRST 12.8.0.1016 in RAID 0 (W8.1)



Not very happy to be honest. those 4K speeds are horrible

Previous benchmarks with RAPID, 4K is way better:

AS SSD Benchmark with IRST 12.9.0.1001 (W8.1):



AS SSD Benchmark with IRST 12.8.0.1016 (W8.1)



==========================================

Windows 7 Benchmarks:

AS SSD Benchmark with Intel Chipset Drivers 9.4.0.1027 (W7) [RAPID]




AS SSD Benchmark with IRST 12.0.7.1002 (W7) [RAPID]

 

While I'm not recommending RAID0, especially, for the average consumer, I do recommend reading TweakTown's RAID reports. There is a wealth of information in them. Like, why a SATA SSD beats a PCIe SSD (AHCI) in an OS environment, despite it's huge sequential numbers. The results have a single drive as well.
Intel DC P3700 800GB NVMe vs. Intel 730 Series SATA SSD RAID Report
You have to weigh the risks versus rewards in going RAID0. Performance, hands down RAID0 over a single SSD in an OS environment, light or heavy workloads. A slight increase in read latency, a big reduction in write latency. Lose a drive, lose everything in RAID0.

 

Funny, almost a year later I am on the same situation.

I have one Samsung EVO 840 and get another one (exactly the same model).

I'm thinking go the same route you take with Storage Spaces, primarily 'cause going raid 0 is a pain (have to mount the OS from zero).

So, How are you doing with your Samsung EVO SSD's configured with Storage Spaces?
Was it worthwhile?

J.