Raid 0 vs Raid 0+1 Speed Difference, AND Acronis problems

[guiri]

Guys,

I just had a system built and long story short, after a couple of months of build time, UPS managed to trash it when delivering it. I’m still waiting to find out what they are going to pay and so on but regardless, the system has to be rebuilt so I have a few questions.

One of the main requirements was Acronis True Image so that I could have images made of my drive/s in case of a crash or something and so that I would be able to restore the computer to a previous state, preferably with ALL my software installed. Particularly important when you have around 45-50 programs installed like I have.

Anyway, there was a bit of problem with Acronis and presumably because it didn’t like the P45 chipset.

Another reason could be the Raid 0 (three raptors) and the Linux Acronis uses and the lack of Raid drivers. In any case, I have heard several theories but the bottom line is, I need to have this solved.

Now, NOT having an IMAGE really makes me nervous so I was considering adding a Raid 1 to the Raid 0, effectively making it a Raid 0+1 or Raid 10 but I need to know HOW MUCH the performance is going to suffer from just a Raid 0 and also, are there any ideas/thoughts on the Acronis issue or possibly other IMAGING software that will do the trick.

YES, I am aware that the Raid 0+1 will also duplicate the errors/viruses that I may get and that it is NOT an IMAGE substitute but at least, it gives me better redundancy in case a drive FAILS which Raid 0 does NOT and that’s another thing that worries me. As a side note, I’m very prone to stuff happening to my equipment and I am NOT a lucky guy. Trust me on this one, I am NOT paranoid guys so just consider this a real obstacle and the reason I try to be so anal about my system setup.

Also, if there IS a big performance hit from Raid 0 to Raid 0+1, would increasing to FOUR drives in each make a difference? I could go back to just ONE drive but my computer builder really recommends the speed of a Raid 0 array.

Will a HD duplicator do the job or possibly individually copying/duplicating the drives IN the computer through Acronis (with HD drive trays or something)?

I don’t know if a HD duplicator WILL work because I’m not sure if it introduces anything to the copies or if somehow the drives’ serial numbers or something else internally changes..

Thanks for any advice

George

[guiri]

Second question.

I had the case set up with three Raptors in Raid 0 for boot drives as you already know and two 1TB drives in JBOD for primary storage.

I WAS going to use my NAS for external storage but I am considering putting a Raid 6 array inside the case for backup storage and even higher redundancy so that I don’t have to have any external units which if I do means I’ll probably get rid of my ReadyNAS NV+

For the new computer I thought I’d add a third drive for the JBOD for more storage and 4+2 drives for the Raid 6.

So, IF I stay with the Raid 0 for the three Raptors for the boot drive…

I have three drives for my PRIMARY storage and

Six drives for my backup…HOW MANY RAID CARDS do I NEED and which array should I put in what location?

Ie, should I put the raptors on a good Raid card with say 1GB of memory or on the built in Raid on the MOBO?

Do I need TWO Raid cards to run the additional TWO raid arrays in the computer?

[DMB2000uk]

Am I to understand that you are considering a build with 12 HDDs in?

What case do you have that can fit 12 drives in it?

Dan

[guiri]

Yessir!

This one but air cooled
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=21901

[guiri]

I initially got this case but it's a piece of shi*


Also, their way of doing business sucks. They wanted something like $40 just to drill holes for TWO handles. NOT EVEN the handles...

It was cheaper to get their handles and just take them out and throw them out which I think is extremely stupid

http://www.mountainmods.com/u2ufo-opti1 ... p-257.html

[hnzw_rui]

Since RAID cards that can handle up to 24 drives exist, I'd say no, you don't need to get several RAID cards. I don't think you'll suffer a big performance hit doing RAID 0+1 but RAID10 is better for uptime.

Personally, I'd use the RAID6 array for primary storage since it should be faster and just use JBOD for backup. I dunno about the wisdom of keeping both primary storage and backup in the same location, though.

I highly suggest you visit this thread for recommendations and advise.

[guiri]

Yeah, I know I can have that many drives on one card but I don't know if you can have TWO different RAID arrays on the same card.

Ie, a Raid 6 and say, Raid 0 on the same card..?

As for having it all in one location, what I would worry about is fire and that's about it and if that happens, I have bigger problems, like my FIVE dogs.

I guess I could keep my NAS and store it OFF site and just backup to it from time to time.

As for primary storage, would Raid 0 be better than JBOD for speed?

[hnzw_rui]

Yeah, I know I can have that many drives on one card but I don't know if you can have TWO different RAID arrays on the same card.

Ie, a Raid 6 and say, Raid 0 on the same card..?

I've only seen RAIDCore and that one even lets you RAID partitions. However, I reckon most cards would let you create multiple RAID arrays on the same card. Again, I highly suggest you visit the thread I posted above and post questions. The guys over on that thread all seem to have extensive knowledge of RAID systems and peripherals.

As for having it all in one location, what I would worry about is fire and that's about it and if that happens, I have bigger problems, like my FIVE dogs.

I guess I could keep my NAS and store it OFF site and just backup to it from time to time.

While having off-site storage is good, necessary even (at least for irreplaceable stuff - family pics, videos, etc), I was thinking more along the lines of what if a power supply blows and takes out all your components? If you've got all your drives connected to it, that means both your primary and backup storage is kaput.

As for primary storage, would Raid 0 be better than JBOD for speed?

Yes.

[guiri]

I DID go to the thread you posted and man is there a lot of info. I don't understand all of it but I will probably ask a few questions there too.

As for the PSU going bad, it's only a matter of replacing it. My stuff is NOT really time critical. I can be a day or two without the puter without going too crazy. As long as it's still tehre after I put the new power supply in. I'm more concerned about losing data and in the case of Acronis, having to reinstall 40-50 proggies after a year or so when the system gets "dirty" and needs to be reinstalled or crashes.

[hnzw_rui]

As for the PSU going bad, it's only a matter of replacing it. My stuff is NOT really time critical. I can be a day or two without the puter without going too crazy. As long as it's still tehre after I put the new power supply in. I'm more concerned about losing data and in the case of Acronis, having to reinstall 40-50 proggies after a year or so when the system gets "dirty" and needs to be reinstalled or crashes.

Granted, when most PSU's fail, they just gracefully shut themselves down. The scenario I'm trying to paint is what if, as the PSU fails, it sends a surge of power to your hard drives and damages them? With new, decently built PSU's (Seasonic, Corsair, etc), it's unlikely to happen, but you can't ignore the possibility.

[guiri]

Ah, I learn something new every day. That's not something you can fix anyway, even if you buy a good one, right? I mean, no real guarantee right?

[dicecca112]

As for the PSU going bad, it's only a matter of replacing it. My stuff is NOT really time critical. I can be a day or two without the puter without going too crazy. As long as it's still tehre after I put the new power supply in. I'm more concerned about losing data and in the case of Acronis, having to reinstall 40-50 proggies after a year or so when the system gets "dirty" and needs to be reinstalled or crashes.

Granted, when most PSU's fail, they just gracefully shut themselves down. The scenario I'm trying to paint is what if, as the PSU fails, it sends a surge of power to your hard drives and damages them? With new, decently built PSU's (Seasonic, Corsair, etc), it's unlikely to happen, but you can't ignore the possibility.

The good ones do, and it depends how overloaded and what fails that allows for the gracefulness of death. I've seen some shoot sparks, and electricity, I've seen others smoke, and then others just shut off and never turn back on

[guiri]

Any idea how this is for quality? I chose it for the colors (yes, for ONCE in my life, I wanted some color in my computer) and because it was modular.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817814014

[dicecca112]

Tagan's a good brand, though I must admit I'm not as knowledgeable about the latest psu as I used to be

[guiri]

Well, I guess the choice was decent then and it IS pretty