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    To RAID or not to RAID, that is the Temptation!

    Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by Doomwookie, Oct 22, 2007.

  1. Doomwookie

    Doomwookie Newbie

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    I'm going to be ordering a Sager NP5960 probably in a few weeks. So now I'm debating whether to go with a RAID configuration or not. I'm thinking of two 5400 RPM 160GB drives or two 7200 RPM 200GB drives in a RAID 0 config. Also I'm planning on running WinXP Pro and Gentoo Linux in a Dual-boot setup. So now for the questions:

    1. Would the laptop run too hot with two 7200RPM drives? (Would it be better to go with two 5400 RPM drives and run cooller and save money?)
    2. Would RAID 0 cause any problems with partitioning the giant drive into partitions for windows and linux?
    3. Would I be better off simply having Windows on one drive and Linux on the other to simplify things?
    4. Would I be best off order the laptop in a non-raid config so I can back up the origional setup with partimage before setting up the raid myself and repartitioning?
     
    Doomwookie, Oct 22, 2007
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  2. Jalf

    Jalf Comrade Santa

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    1: Dunno (but if it's got room for two harddrives, it should be able to deal with the heat as well)
    2: No. (And 360GB isn't huge)
    3: Yes. RAID 0 is a waste of time in most cases.
    4: What would that achieve?
     
    Jalf, Oct 22, 2007
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  3. zfactor

    zfactor Mastershake

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    imo on a laptop i would keep the drives separate. on my desktop i run raid 0 and love it.. if i could run 2 drives though on the 5791 id keep them separate
     
    zfactor, Oct 22, 2007
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  4. FriscoPowers

    FriscoPowers Notebook Guru

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    2. when the hard drives are in RAID 0, they are treated as one drive, so there should be no partitioning issues.

    1. running 2x 7200rpm hard drives would be a heckuva lot faster than 5400rpm.
    they don't make that much heat anyways
     
    FriscoPowers, Oct 22, 2007
    #4
  5. p_boucher

    p_boucher Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    Just to add;

    be aware that for day to day application you wont't get real spped improvement with a raid array for a lappy. I mean yeah Windows will load faster, but that'll be it.

    Remeber that RAID0 = 2x chance of loosing the array.

    Honestly, you'd better go with a RAID1 for security purpose of having an all time backup. PLus RAID 1 are quicker on read operations because the controller can read from both disks. Write performance will suffer a bit, but not that much. Most of the time the lappys is reading from the HDD.

    But I had a RAID0 in my previous desktop and I never had a problem with it.
     
    p_boucher, Oct 22, 2007
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  6. steponz

    steponz Notebook Consultant

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    Go with the Raid 0 with teh 7200rpm drives...
    Much faster than the 5400rpm drives...

    Just make sure you backup regularly.

    joe
     
    steponz, Oct 24, 2007
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