Getting Performance

[Tywais]

A few months ago I decided it was time to replace my aging WD Raptor drive as it is approaching 5 years old. Considering how hot it runs, my concern was potential failure though it could possibly last another 5 years. The 2nd reason, it is Sata I (150) versus Sata II (300) and its benchmarks weren't up to par with newer technologies. HDTune PRO put it at around 85MB/s though the fast access time helps with small files and random access.

My first thought was SSD but found getting the specific drive I wanted difficult (OCZ). I see InvadeIT now has a new family of drives, ADATA and performance reviews are quite good but the expense is a bit too much.

So, after reading many performance comparisons decided to go with two 500GB Samsung F3 drives in RAID0 for 1TB total space. I made 2 partitions with the 1st one at 25% (250GB) for short stroking and the remainder for scratch/work space only. Short stroking improves performance by keeping the files on the outer edge where the speed is the fastest. Windows 7 makes that less necessary as it automatically optimizes to the outer edges but this will still help performance wise.

Here are some benchmark comparisons: First will be the ADATA SSD, 2nd the F3 RAID0, the 3rd my 2nd 500GB Seagate drive.

File transfer: F3 RAID0 versus Seagate 500GB

Of course there are other benchmarks where the SSDs will really show their stuff, specifically small file transfers and random access where access times is a factor.

The two 500GB Samsung F3s cost 1300 Baht each or 2600 Baht for the two and gives 1TB of space - much less expensive then SSD. Would have liked to have gotten the F4s as they are about 10% faster but weren't available yet in Thailand.

An example of performance improvement: My WD Raptor would load Photoshop CS3 in 7-8 seconds, the RAID0 now about 3-4 seconds

[Tywais]

Forgot to add the caveats. RAID0 is not redundant so if one drive fails the entire cluster will fail with the potential of losing all data. So regular backups are important. I image my drive regularly with Acronis to an internal backup drive then to an external e-Sata box.

[spacemunk]

where did u happen to find there F3's at?

been searching for ages

[dave_boo]

Another thing to consider is that initalising an array's controller, and then the array adds time. Granted if you're running the machine 24x7 not a big deal.

I've gone SSD and won't look back for a boot drive....startup in Linux is 12 seconds or less from a cold boot to opening webpages.

[Tywais]

where did u happen to find there F3's at?

been searching for ages

Ordered mine from Thanni.com

[Tywais]

Another thing to consider is that initalising an array's controller, and then the array adds time. Granted if you're running the machine 24x7 not a big deal.

I've gone SSD and won't look back for a boot drive....startup in Linux is 12 seconds or less from a cold boot to opening webpages.

I agree SSDs will improve bootup times quite a bit as it involves loading a lot of small files where the fast access times of the SSD comes into play. Not a big issue for me as I start the system up in the morning and is on all day.