More raid questions

[Blogger]

To those of you using raid 0, have you had any problems with reliablity(apart from the firmware update issue)? I would like to use a pair of Raptor 150s in raid 0, which would then be backed up daily to the stock 500 Gig hard drive. One by it's self would not be big enough for my uses. It would be the ideal set-up for me, but my previouse experience with raid 0 gives me pause. I had problems with my Sonnet powered raid 0 in my G4 and eventual ditched it. Is the software raid on the mac Pro more reliable?

Thanks.

 

[disconap]

I run a small software RAID0 in my G4. I use it mostly as a CS2 scratch disc. Never had a problem with it once the Siig card got sorted (it was slightly damaged and needed to be resoldered)...

If you have a solid backup regiment (at least once a day, preferably twice to 3 times) you should be fine. Try it out and see (if you already have the hardware), you can always figure out a different configuration if you don't like it.

 

[Blogger]

Ah, that's the problem really. I'm trying to decide what extra hardrives to buy for the machine. The Raptors look nice but are really expensive for the size.
If raid 0 is fine for months on end, they would be a great option, but if I have to wipe them and back up twice a month, it's not worth the aggravation. If that was the case, I'd just go with another 500 gig drive for back ups. So that's my dilemma.

 

[disconap]

Well, my RAID is built from stock Sawtooth drives. So it's made up of drives that are at least 6 or so years old, that have both seen heavy use in their day. So far, no problems (knock wood). So I'd say you're probably fine (and it's rare in my experience with RAID0 that drives die, they just sometimes fail and need to be rebuilt/restored).

 

[Blogger]

Thanks disconap, that's reassuring.
Now all I have to find out is how the software raid on a Mac Pro compares to hardware raids. Anybody?

 

[disconap]

I have no firsthand experience, so someone else may want to chime in, but in all the reading I've done on RAID set-ups recently, most of it says that software RAIDs are faster and easier to maintain. That could be totally way off, as it's based mostly on editorial content from websites, but that's the impression I was left with...