To RAID or not to RAID

[jgalt92]

My current computer was home built. I think that for my next one i want to do something alittle different. I was thinking of doing a RAID set up. The only problem is I dint understand the difference between the different types. With out becomming an expect on hard drives is there a good site I could go to to get my learn on. THe next computer will be used for home video editing and gaming(when the wife is not around). Thanks for your help.

[Hitman]

RAID Guide

There are some sites linked there that should help.

The most common RAID types for home user are:

RAID 1 - Mirroring, Same data on both drives for redundancy
RAID 0 - Stripping, Data is spread over 2 or more drives for speed, but no redundancy
RAID 0+1 - Striping and Mirroring, Used for 4 or more drives
RAID 5 - For redundancy with the least amount of overhead.

[screwballl]

phew for a moment I thought this was going to be about cross dressing....

In addition to what hitman said....
With RAID1, this is secure but at lower performance due to redundant read/write processes. If you have 2x 500GB drives, your OS sees it as 500GB. The array keeps duplicate information on both drives but the limit is the size of a single drive, in this case, 500GB. If one drive fails, you can still access it from the other drive outside of the RAID.
Example: A moving truck can get the load to its destination in 2 days at 50mph. But if one truck crashes (single drive), you lost all your stuff. So if you pack 2 trucks with identical loads, at least 1 is (almost) guaranteed to be safe. (RAID1).

With RAID0, this is fast but if one drive goes, most/all of your data is gone (unless you backed it up elsewhere). 2x 500GB physical drives is seen in your OS as 1000GB (or 1TB). When data is written to the drives, it splits all information in half so one half goes on Drive A and the other half goes on drive B. Because it only has to read/write/process the data in halves, this is where the speed benefit comes in.
Example: a moving truck can get the load to its destination in 2 days at 50mph (single drive). Split the load in half and put it in 2 smaller trucks and you can have the load to its destination in 1 day at 90mph (RAID1). But if one truck crashes, you lose everything since all items/data are split in half, so the truck that does make it, all the stuff is junk since everything relies on the other half.


With RAID0+1 (or 1+0), this combines speed with security as it simply a combination of 0 and 1. Drives A and B are combined into a single drive in your OS (RAID0) but also data is written to drives C and D as a backup.
Example: Load one large truck (2tons worth, 2 drives combined into one) and 2 smaller trucks (1 ton each) with loads (the 2 ton is split in half for the smaller trucks), and you have 2 full loads arriving. If any one truck crashes, you still have the other full load to rely on.

[Reloadron]

When it comes to RAID Hitman's Raid Guide is as good as it gets. You can Google RAID and get more information.

You do mention your intended use but not your pocket book? That does figure into things.

The big thing with RAID is knowing exactly what you plan to do well before you do it. Once a RAID array(s) is built prior to installing the operating system going back is not an option.

Each variation of RAID has its good and bad points. Personally I am not a big fan of RAID0 as there is nothing "Redundant" about it. The idea behind RAID is redundancy.

When it comes to RAID0 and speed arguments prevail. My take is simple in that speed on paper or in theory means little if you can't see it for your intended applications. I doubt you will see it with video editing where a good processor and GPU pay off.

I happen to like a setup that uses RAID 1 and RAID 5 on the same machine. RAID 1 for the OS and programs and RAID 5 for my data and saved files.

My only suggestion is to do your homework extensively for your exclusive application. Consider your video editing software and storage in the build.

Ron

[Tech Geek Deluxe]

I use raid 0 in both my server and my main PC due to the significant performance increases.

I vote for Raid 0 ... however you must have solid backup software and a backup hard drive. [Bare minimum is to have backups burned to DVD's] One network attached storage drive is actually sufficient as long as your software will re-install over the network.

I use Paragon Pro 8.5 as my backup solution and keep images of installs and builds on 2 E-sata external drives and one Network attached storage drive.

I also use "Second Copy" for automatic backups since it has a super tiny footprint.