Choosing Storage and Raid 0

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   Hopefully I can get this or some form of this topic stickied.

The intention of this post is not to convince you of choosing one storage option in place of another, it's simply to reinforce the importance of understanding your decision on storage configurations, especially if you are contemplating Raid configurations.

If you're buying from Digital Storm, most of you are probably like me.  Which is, an average to above average knowledge of computers, or possibly even an expert in some areas and most likely a gamer at heart. Even if you don't keep up with the latest and greatest, you know enough to fix almost any issue or follow some instructions to fix it yourself.

However, there are things we don't know... and things we wont ask. Which brings me to topic.   If we can afford it, we want the best storage options for gaming, whatever is at the top of the build chart, or whatever is recommended by the collective thoughts of forum guru's. Typically, like anything else if we hear that a raid 0 setup is/can be faster, a lot of us jump to do it because it doesn't cost any extra.

For me as an average "gamer" (there is a huge difference between the term average Gamer and average User, so that's why I use the term average here) There are really only two things I ever really care about regarding storage and gaming (preferences vary depending on your hobbies, mine are gaming and family oriented things like music and pictures.

#1. Size and Speed
    - The average gamer wants an ungodly amount of space so he can keep 20 games on his hard drive, 15 of which he'll rarely play... but we dread the searching and shear panic when we get an urge to play an old game and have lost the disc, cd key, etc.
    - For speed, the average gamer just wants it to be at par.  We don't really seek the best, but we don't want something that is way behind the curve for what's current or even whats 1-2 years down the road.

#2. Configurations (Dual Boot, Dual Drives, External, etc)

We either want a place to separate fun from life, or fun from wife.  "You're stuff is here, mine is off limits"  - or -  we want to mix it up a little, maybe a dual boot with xp/vista, etc... In the majoirty of cases, you come to two choices for storage on a gaming system.  1 huge HDD, or 2 large HDD's.  What you do from there, or if you get more than 2, can really vary quite a bit, so let's just focus on the choice of 2.

If you select 2 HDD's you have one major decision to make, keep independant HD's or have DS put them in a Raid/combined configuration.  Some of us even make the mistake of thinking that having 2 operating systems requires 2 HDD's or requires raid setups.  If you know exactly what a Raid 0 configuration does in comparison to 2 HDD's not in Raid 0, then this post isn't really relevant to you. If you do not, it is very important that you do understand it and that you really think it's necessary for what you'll be doing. A good rule of thumb to go by, would be to go with what you know unless you can't resist the dramatic improvement you'd gain.

This is one option that isn't about "well I have the money" or "it's free why do I care"   If you don't truly know that you can offer up the type of demand that Raid 0 truly benefits from, then don't make that decision.

90% of the information you read for the average to even ultra hardcore gamer will tell you that it may not be worth the risk involved, and that keeping them out of that configuration may be a better choice over the situational "improvements".  On top of that, no one giving recommendations knows or cares about what you'll be storing on your computer more than you.

Whether you should set up in Raid 0 or not isn't a general question, so don't make the decision until you understand the technology 100%.  If you end up opting for it and have an issue, do your research or call DSO before you go try to alter any configurations. (which doesn't mean browse through screens and try out what you feel comfortable with as long as it doesn't say "delete" or "format")

Again, the purpose of this post is to reinforce the importance of choosing storage options, not to convince you of what's better. You won't see any math or scientific proof here for configs and it's best that you go research the facts and figures and instructions on Raid yourself.

If you have any additional recommendations or advice then feel free to post in response.  Let's not turn this into a war of configurations though, keep it focused on people being able to understand the differences, not trying to validate what's "better" or "faster" etc.

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Kain Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 78	Quote Reply Topic: Choosing Storage and Raid 0 Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 4:01pm
	Hopefully I can get this or some form of this topic stickied. The intention of this post is not to convince you of choosing one storage option in place of another, it's simply to reinforce the importance of understanding your decision on storage configurations, especially if you are contemplating Raid configurations. If you're buying from Digital Storm, most of you are probably like me. Which is, an average to above average knowledge of computers, or possibly even an expert in some areas and most likely a gamer at heart. Even if you don't keep up with the latest and greatest, you know enough to fix almost any issue or follow some instructions to fix it yourself. However, there are things we don't know... and things we wont ask. Which brings me to topic. If we can afford it, we want the best storage options for gaming, whatever is at the top of the build chart, or whatever is recommended by the collective thoughts of forum guru's. Typically, like anything else if we hear that a raid 0 setup is/can be faster, a lot of us jump to do it because it doesn't cost any extra. For me as an average "gamer" (there is a huge difference between the term average Gamer and average User, so that's why I use the term average here) There are really only two things I ever really care about regarding storage and gaming (preferences vary depending on your hobbies, mine are gaming and family oriented things like music and pictures. #1. Size and Speed - The average gamer wants an ungodly amount of space so he can keep 20 games on his hard drive, 15 of which he'll rarely play... but we dread the searching and shear panic when we get an urge to play an old game and have lost the disc, cd key, etc. - For speed, the average gamer just wants it to be at par. We don't really seek the best, but we don't want something that is way behind the curve for what's current or even whats 1-2 years down the road. #2. Configurations (Dual Boot, Dual Drives, External, etc) We either want a place to separate fun from life, or fun from wife. "You're stuff is here, mine is off limits" - or - we want to mix it up a little, maybe a dual boot with xp/vista, etc... In the majoirty of cases, you come to two choices for storage on a gaming system. 1 huge HDD, or 2 large HDD's. What you do from there, or if you get more than 2, can really vary quite a bit, so let's just focus on the choice of 2. If you select 2 HDD's you have one major decision to make, keep independant HD's or have DS put them in a Raid/combined configuration. Some of us even make the mistake of thinking that having 2 operating systems requires 2 HDD's or requires raid setups. If you know exactly what a Raid 0 configuration does in comparison to 2 HDD's not in Raid 0, then this post isn't really relevant to you. If you do not, it is very important that you do understand it and that you really think it's necessary for what you'll be doing. A good rule of thumb to go by, would be to go with what you know unless you can't resist the dramatic improvement you'd gain. This is one option that isn't about "well I have the money" or "it's free why do I care" If you don't truly know that you can offer up the type of demand that Raid 0 truly benefits from, then don't make that decision. 90% of the information you read for the average to even ultra hardcore gamer will tell you that it may not be worth the risk involved, and that keeping them out of that configuration may be a better choice over the situational "improvements". On top of that, no one giving recommendations knows or cares about what you'll be storing on your computer more than you. Whether you should set up in Raid 0 or not isn't a general question, so don't make the decision until you understand the technology 100%. If you end up opting for it and have an issue, do your research or call DSO before you go try to alter any configurations. (which doesn't mean browse through screens and try out what you feel comfortable with as long as it doesn't say "delete" or "format") Again, the purpose of this post is to reinforce the importance of choosing storage options, not to convince you of what's better. You won't see any math or scientific proof here for configs and it's best that you go research the facts and figures and instructions on Raid yourself. If you have any additional recommendations or advice then feel free to post in response. Let's not turn this into a war of configurations though, keep it focused on people being able to understand the differences, not trying to validate what's "better" or "faster" etc.
	Q9450 2.66 GHZ, 1333fsb/12mb No overclockage yet! 780i core 2 quad 4gb DDR 2 @ 1066mhz 8800GTX @ 768mb Sblaster Xfi Xtreme

e.fruman Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 14 May 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 140	Quote Reply Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 4:26pm
	Hi Kain I'll try to give my two cents first of all raid 0 is overrated and does not show such a huge visible gain but in turn offers a high chance of all data loss. If i were to need a computer as of now i would order one 300gb velicraptor and that's being generous since i like games 300gb is plenty of enough and if i needed more i would buy an external hard drive.

Bismark Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 21 Jun 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 120	Quote Reply Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 4:39pm
	Hi Kain, I'll offer my two cents as well. I went with Raid 0 in my last build 3.5 years ago when it was just becoming popular... I've been satisfied with it, no problems, but it is a risk and as far as I've seen my only advantage is in zoning or entering instances. Which does it really matter if your the first person in the raid intance? (you just wait on everyone else anyhow)Over the past week looking at systems and specs I started out as thinking raid 0 is a must, now im unconvinced and will probably opt not to go that route. Sorry you lost your data btw, that sucks

jimbo Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 30 Aug 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 162	Quote Reply Posted: 27 Jun 2008 at 8:54pm
	Sorry about the lost data. Another problem, rare, is if the raid controller goes bad you may not be able to revoer your drives unless you have exactly the same controller and firmware. Just read about this, believe in MaxPC.
	Life's too short

Kain Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 78	Quote Reply Posted: 30 Jun 2008 at 8:15am
	Thanks guys, the intent of the post wasn't to point out (nor did I mention) that I lost data. Just wanted a place for people to look when choosing storage and thinking about Raid 0 to see how important it is that they don't blow it off and just pick it, etc...
	Q9450 2.66 GHZ, 1333fsb/12mb No overclockage yet! 780i core 2 quad 4gb DDR 2 @ 1066mhz 8800GTX @ 768mb Sblaster Xfi Xtreme

Tyler Lowe Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 14 May 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Quote Reply Posted: 30 Jun 2008 at 11:27am
	I would sticky this, but it seems that is not among my capabilities. I agree that people should understand the risks involved before making a decision on storage, but even more importantly, people really, really need to take the time to make a backup. I mean a full backup to disc, and not a Windows restore point. It took me 16 DVD's and 9 hours to complete my initial backup with Acronis True Image, but that was time well spent. Yes, it's important to understand why RAID can be less reliable, no, selecting a single HDD will not mean you can't lose your family pictures or digital artwork. Bottom line: Understand your data storage option, but no matter which option you select, create your own restore discs. Edited by Tyler Lowe - 30 Jun 2008 at 11:28am

Choosing Storage and Raid 0

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