Raid 0

does raid 0 increase your performance ie load times, startup times

Yes, but any other performance (like FPS) is unaffected.

It increases read/write speeds and decreases loading times, however it doesn't increase access times.

Do you need a RAID controller card? Or how do you set it up?

A few years back I had a pair of Raptors in my machine. Yes, it was noticeably faster in load times and such, but not enough to make me wish to keep it (hence the single 160GB now )

i am currently using 2 raptors in RAID 0 as well, and I would not recommend it. it is not worth the extra speed. 1 raptor, or even 1 500GB 7200RPM drive is fast enough (i say 500GB bc the data density is so high on those that they are fastor than most other 7200RPM drives)

Yes, although most newer motherboards have them built-in.

Actually, RAID0 is one of the biggest myths going.

The answer is a big, hearty "NO!!!!". It does *nothing* for real life performance, unless you are moving huge files around. Not only does it do bugger all for performance, you cut your MTBF (mean time between failures) in half. When they do fail, you lose *everything*. Been there, done that. As RAID 0 is not a RAID array at all, you have zero redundancy. Which means that when it fails, which it certainly will, there's no way to rebuild it and preserve your data. You're screwed.

And for what? So a pointless, useless benchmark can say "yes, it's faster" when in actuality it isn't? Ask yourself if it's worth it... The answer should be obvious.

Do *not* believe the drive benchmarks you see. I've seen them posted and they do not mirror real world results. In fact, proper reviews totally trash the likes of HDD Tach or whatever because the results they give are false. In other words, they are crap. If you see a review based on those results, you know the reviewer doesn't have a clue what they are doing... In other words, they are an amateur and you don't give credence to their results.


Ok.. so in summary.. Unless you are consistently moving large database files, striping is useless. And if you are a true geek, or a true professional IT, you never, ever, EVER stripe without building in redundancy... Or you're an idiot and you'll get what's coming to you.

lol.

Now, let me tell you how I really feel.


edit: I will give you an example of where you use striping. As mentioned in another post on here, I have built a couple of Supermicro rack servers for a manufacturing client. The one is SQL Server 2005, hosting a CMS database. They are huge files... The array is a RAID 5 array, with 3 - 137 GB hot swap Seagate 10,000 RPM SCSI drives. RAID 5 does striping, but it also has redundancy built in. Should one drive fail, the server will stay running until I can get to the site to swap out the drive. Then, while the server is running, you pull the drive, throw in another one and it rebuilds on the fly.

I have also done the same thing in my office with a file server. It has six 146GB Fujitsu 10,000 RPM hot swap SCSI drives in two RAID 5 arrays. Because it's used locally and remotely, multiuser, that's when you benefit from the striping.

Anyone who tells you it has any practical application on a home desktop (and I'm sure you'll see it pop up) doesn't know what they are talking about, as they are using synthetic benches to back them up, when in reality the only real world gains they are seeing are between their ears.

RAID 0 does work, it increases the average transfer rate, which drastically cuts down the time it takes to copy say a 1GB video file from one folder to another, or in games it takes slightly less time to load the level because of the faster read/write speeds.

Granted it's over exaggerated, however there is a performance gain.

I average about 100-105MBps when copying files on my RAID 0 array.

No, there isn't... and no, you don't. You might on a synthetic benchmark, but I guarantee you you won't in the real world.

The 1GB video file, however, is the exception to the rule.

On loading games, Windows and the like, you will not see a gain because the files are too small. There are certain games where the level files are huge... And you might see a fraction of a second difference.

However, because RAID 0 setups are prone to failure (and I LMAO when someone tells me they did it with WD Caviars... Because I know *exactly* what's coming, considering those things just LOVE corrupting the MFTs).. What is your data worth to you? When you lose everything and have to start from scratch, was that extra second worth it? Add them up... And then figure out how much money and time you have to spend rebuilding.... If you figure out a way to convince me that it pays for itself, I'll be *very* surprised.