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nyrrule27
join:2007-12-06
Howell, NJ

nyrrule27

Member

Raid 0 with ssd drives

Is it even worth it to raid 2 ssd drives together. the drives are stat 2 3gbps and 270/205 read/write. if any one has done this i would like to know if you notice a difference.

Thanks

aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA

aurgathor

Member

If your SATA controller is on a wide and fast enough bus, it should make make some difference. I was actually thinking of doing that, but an x2 add-in controller is not going to cut it.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

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Empirically no, I noticed no difference. It was fast before in single drive configurations and it was fast in a RAID 0 configuration:

»SSD Raid 0 Array 4x60GB Setup Test Run

»SSD RAID 0 Array

Fast is fast,….

mattrixx
join:2004-02-18
Orland Park, IL

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You also have to factor in that unless you have the latest specific Z77 or Z79 Motherboard, you will NOT have any TRIM function available with SSDs and RAID 0 !

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean

MVM

As far as I know the Intel X79 Express chipset still does not have TRIM support for RAID 0 configurations but I would really like to be wrong about that.
nyrrule27
join:2007-12-06
Howell, NJ

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I have an ASUS Sabertooth Z77 motherboard..

norwegian
Premium Member
join:2005-02-15
Outback

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I seem to be reading that RST driver 11.2 has the support - however Intel says only for it's motherboards.
»downloadcenter.intel.com ··· ID=21407
quote:
Purpose:

Installs the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (RAID) driver version 11.2.0.1006 for Intel® Desktop Boards.

This driver supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. The driver should be installed after the operating system has been installed. F6 and RAID BIOS configurations need to be performed prior to installation of this driver for proper operation.

RST 11.2 supports TRIM on RAID 0 only on Intel Desktop Boards with the 7 Series chipsets.
Yet everyone is saying any 7 - series is fine....I'm doubting that comment though, why would Intel say only it's own boards?

This link for other boards suggests there is still no TRIM
»downloadcenter.intel.com ··· d=dc_rss
quote:
Purpose:
Installs the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (RAID) driver version 11.6.0.1030.

This driver supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. The driver should be installed after the operating system has been installed. F6 and RAID BIOS configurations need to be performed prior to installation of this driver for proper operation.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

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Interesting,.....

The Anandtech artical covering this subject used an Intel DZ77GA-70K Z77 motherboard for testing but made no mention of an Intel motherboard only limitation (IIRC).

Maybe it's only mentioned on tested boards and Intel naturally tested on their boards?

mattrixx
join:2004-02-18
Orland Park, IL

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I have an Asus P8Z68-V PRO Motherboard with TWO Crucial M4 64GB SSDs (6Gb/s) in a RAID 0 array for my boot drive and It is crazy fast!
However, I have NO experience with just a plain old "vanilla" single SSD boot drive with which to compare.

Don`t know about 3Gb/s drives connected to a Asus Sabertooth 6Gb/s SATA Ports, but I doubt you would notice any difference between my 6Gb/s and your 3Gb/s drives/ports in a RAID 0 config?
Like Octavean said "Fast is fast".
mattrixx

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Yes, I sort of been following all this myself, but I end up more confused than ever.
If you ever find anything definitive regarding TRIM, RAID 0, and other than "Intel 7 series" MBs let me /us know!

Thanks

koitsu
MVM
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA
Humax BGW320-500

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Edit: Sorry, this was supposed to be a response to mattrixx See Profile, but I clicked the wrong Reply button.

I'd be willing to bet money it's because of lack-of option ROM version control. Expanded:

Intel can certainly guarantee out-of-the-box what the option ROM version/build will be for their own motherboards, but cannot guarantee what option ROM version/build will be used when it comes to vendors like Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, etc.. Intel has no control over what those companies are doing with their BIOSes or UEFI model (both of which encapsulate the AHCI/RAID option ROM, FYI).

There are implications of this in a semi-recent thread over on the official Intel forums, but not a single Intel employee has commented.

This is another example of where actual company engineers, not "technical support" nutjobs, need to bust through the proverbial wall like Kool-Aid Man and actually provide some coherent insights to customers on their forum.

I imagine the Intel RST 11.2 and 11.6 drivers will do TRIM in RAID-0 and RAID-1 mode on boards (Intel, Asus, Gigabyte, or any other brand) where the option ROM supports that capability. Nobody knows how this capability is determined except Intel (once again, "black box" solutions). But the motherboard vendors are the ones responsible for providing option ROM updates.

If you want to know who to put pressure on at this point, it would be your motherboard vendor. Dig your heels in and try to get past generic Tier 1 technical support and see if you can get an answer from them.

Otherwise, quite simply: if you have an in-line ATA protocol analyser for SATA, hook it up on one of two SSDs in RAID-0 mode on a board and provide me with an ATA CDB dump, or look for ATA CDB command 0x06 (DSM / Data Set Management) per T13/2015-D ACS-2 spec rev 1a or newer, then issue a crapload of I/O followed by a crapload of file deletes.

mattrixx
join:2004-02-18
Orland Park, IL

mattrixx

Member

said by koitsu:

Otherwise, quite simply: if you have an in-line ATA protocol analyser for SATA, hook it up on one of two SSDs in RAID-0 mode on a board and provide me with an ATA CDB dump, or look for ATA CDB command 0x06 (DSM / Data Set Management) per T13/2015-D ACS-2 spec rev 1a or newer, then issue a crapload of I/O followed by a crapload of file deletes.

Ahhh, that's way over my head.... and out of my league!

To be sure, I would like some resolution regarding this RAID / SSD issue, but I have resigned myself to continue with my RAID 0 setup until I get some definitive answers, and I know I am NOT alone!

Perhaps a "workaround" will be developed that either incorporates TRIM to existing RAID configs, or a newer solution to the "garbage collection" problem with SSDs ?