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1. Re: RAID configuration
Harm Millaard Oct 6, 2010 12:37 AM (in response to Jarliei)Adobe Forums: To RAID or not to RAID, that is the...
The major drawback from a raid0 is that it lacks redundancy, so if one physical disk fails, you lose all the data on all disks in the raid. If your case that means a complete re-install of OS & programs and loss of your projects and media, unless you have a decent backup procedure.
If I see the reluctance of people to make a clean and fresh install of OS & programs, that may apply to you too and then raid0 is ill advised.
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2. Re: RAID configuration
Jarliei Oct 6, 2010 2:25 AM (in response to Harm Millaard)Harm,
Many thanks for your reply.
Perusing your postings in ‘Generic Guidelines’ and ‘To Raid or Not‘ my (limited) knowledge suggest that I should have my tech guy implementing the following configuration to my Win7/64 Ultimate / MOBO ASUS P6T Delux V2 / 12 GHz RAM.
My existing configuration.
Does not have a hardware RAID controller as was suggested but it uses Window’s RAID facility.
Disk# Designated Purpose Hard Disk
1 & 2 C:\ Raid (0) OS / Programmes Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s 1TB.
3 & 4 C:\ Raid (0) Data & all PP work Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s 1TB.
Upgraded system
Memory increase from 12 Gb to 24Gb.
Install ARECA Hardware RAID controller.
Disk# Designated Purpose Hard Disk
1 C:\(Raid 3) OS. use existing Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s 1TB.
2 D:\(Raid 3) Programmes. use existing Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s 1TB.
3 E:\Raid (3) Pagefile. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
4 E:\Raid (3) Media. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
5 E:\Raid (3) Projects. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
6 E:\Raid (3) Media Catch. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
7 E:\Raid (3) Previews. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
8 E:\Raid (3) Exports. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
Have I gone over the top?
too many disks?
Correct RAID configuration?
I would be grateful if you can comment.
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3. Re: RAID configuration
Harm Millaard Oct 6, 2010 3:50 AM (in response to Jarliei)Sorry, I have some difficulty understanding what you mean.
You say you have two disks, in a raid0. Then you say you have:
My existing configuration.
Does not have a hardware RAID controller as was suggested but it uses Window’s RAID facility.
Disk# Designated Purpose Hard Disk
1 & 2 C:\ Raid (0) OS / Programmes Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s 1TB.
3 & 4 C:\ Raid (0) Data & all PP work Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s 1TB.
Where do drives 3 & 4 come from? How come it is designated the same C:\Raid (0). How many physical disks do you have? Did you partition any of these? That is a bad idea, because partitioning does not improve performance, only increases wear and tear on your disks and usually results in worse performance.
Your intended setup,
Disk# Designated Purpose Hard Disk
1 C:\(Raid 3) OS. use existing Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s 1TB.
2 D:\(Raid 3) Programmes. use existing Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s 1TB.
3 E:\Raid (3) Pagefile. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
4 E:\Raid (3) Media. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
5 E:\Raid (3) Projects. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
6 E:\Raid (3) Media Catch. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
7 E:\Raid (3) Previews. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
8 E:\Raid (3) Exports. Buy a Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB.
should read:
Disk# Designated Purpose Hard Disk
1 C:\ OS. use existing Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s 1TB.
2 D:\ Programmes. use existing Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s 1TB.
3-8 E:\Raid (3) Pagefile, media, projects etc. Buy 6 Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB configured in Raid3.
I would suggest you add a 150 GB Velociraptor or a 80+ GB SSD solely for OS & programs. No need to waste two 1 TB disks for OS on 1 and programs on another one. Then you can use the two 1 TB disks in a raid0 for pagefile, media cache and previews, since all these data can be reconstructed very easily in case of disk failure and you spread the disk load over two arrays, one a raid0 and the other a raid3.
If you follow this advise, your setup would be:
Disk# Designated Purpose Hard Disk
1 C:\ OS and programs Buy SSD or Velociraptor.
2+3 D:\Raid (0) Pagefile, media cache, previews use two existing Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s 1TB.
4-9 E:\Raid (3) Media, projects, exports Buy 6 Barracuda XT 6Gb/s 2 TB configured in Raid3.
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4. Re: RAID configuration
Jarliei Oct 6, 2010 4:19 AM (in response to Harm Millaard)Where do drives 3 & 4 come from?
I have four physical disks.
Two of them act in RAID 0 - Array 0000 as Drive C. used as OP and prog's.
Two of them act in RAID 0 - Array 0001 as Drive D. used for Data, and storage.
How come it is designated the same C:\Raid (0).
I can not answer that, my comuter guy did the configuration.
How many physical disks do you have?
Four.
Did you partition any of these?
No.
If you follow this advise, your setup would be:
I shall follow your advice to the letter, should you revisit your advise seeing that I have confused you with the number of hard disks that I have?(four).
thanks
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5. Re: RAID configuration
Jarliei Oct 6, 2010 4:29 AM (in response to Harm Millaard)I THINK ( Hope) that the file with the RAID info is enclosed.
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RAID.docx 54.6 K
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6. Re: RAID configuration
Harm Millaard Oct 6, 2010 4:34 AM (in response to Jarliei)Thanks for the clarification. Since you have 4 Seagates of 1 TB, it is worth considering to use one for stock footage, music etc. that you occasionally use in your projects and the other one for exports.
That means you have an F drive for stock footage, downloads and miscellaneous stuff and a G drive for your exports.
Hint: Your attached file requires Word to be installed. Better use a PDF format,. because a number of people, including myself, do not have Word installed on their editing machine, thus requiring one to use a different machine to view your attached file.
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7. Re: RAID configuration
Jarliei Oct 6, 2010 5:17 AM (in response to Harm Millaard)Harm,
So as to avoid any possible error on my part, I repeat your advice.
Disk# Designated Purpose Hard Disk
1 C:\ 600 GB OS and programs - Buy 600GB 32M 10,000RPM SATA3 Backplane- Ready VelociRaptor (WD6000HLHX)
2+3 D:\Raid (0) 1 TB Pagefile, Media Cache, Previews - use TWO existing B’cuda 7200.
4-9 E:\Raid (3) 6TB Media, Projects - Buy 6 Barracuda XT’s.
1 F 2TB Stock f’tage, downloads, Misc. use ONE existing Barracuda 7200.
1 G 2TB Exports. use ONE existing Barracuda 7200.
My apologies regarding the Word file attachment.
Many thanks
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8. Re: RAID configuration
Harm Millaard Oct 6, 2010 5:41 AM (in response to Jarliei)Completely correct.
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9. Re: RAID configuration
Jarliei Oct 6, 2010 5:51 AM (in response to Harm Millaard)Harm,
you are a Esquire and a Gentelman.
many thanks
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10. Re: RAID configuration
jpodlesnik1 Oct 7, 2010 2:53 AM (in response to Jarliei)Curious to see 24 SSDs in a RAID array at work? Check this out --
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11. Re: RAID configuration
Harm Millaard Oct 7, 2010 3:41 AM (in response to jpodlesnik1)Yeah, that is pretty fast. Wonder what would happen with 48 SSD's, that could easily fit into my case with hot-swappable bays of course. One thing is for sure, bankruptcy.

One would only need two Areca ARC-1880iX-24 cards, each with 4 GB cache, each for one array.
Using OCZ Vertex-2 400 GB SSD's, you would end up with around 19.2 TB of storage for the meager sum of only € 96,000 plus the drive bays for € 850 plus the Areca controllers with cache for only € 2,700.
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12. Re: RAID configuration
jpodlesnik1 Oct 7, 2010 5:45 AM (in response to Harm Millaard)hehehe .. I thought some of you (especially you, Harm) might be tickled by this.
Say, here's an update on my system --
I underestimated the size of my system drive (bought an Intel 80GB SSD, which proved to be just barely enough to hold my Win 7 64-bit and Adobe apps (what was I thinking?), so I added another 80GB solid state drive (in a striped RAID 0 array). Also, three 1TB (WD 6GB/sec 64MB cache) drives were added, configured in a RAID 5 array, connected to my Areca ARC-1680 series RAID card.
Turns out, on the day that I shipped it out to the builders, the computer spontaneously rebooted 3 times. I told the builders of this; they traced it to a faulty 1000 watt power supply (which they replaced). Good thing I sent it back for the added hard drives, eh?
Anyway, I'm expecting the computer back today, Learned of the ASUS Turbov OC software. Since I don't have the time or inclination to OC on my own via the BIOS, I may autotune through the Asus software. All I want is to edit AVCHD footage easily and to work efficiently in Adobe After Effects. -
13. Re: RAID configuration
Harm Millaard Oct 7, 2010 6:28 AM (in response to jpodlesnik1)I underestimated the size of my system drive (bought an Intel 80GB SSD, which proved to be just barely enough to hold my Win 7 64-bit and Adobe apps (what was I thinking?)
With Win7 64 Pro and the MC CS4 and Production Studio CS5 and a lot of other programs, I have difficulty in filling up more than 40 GB, so what else do you have installed?
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14. Re: RAID configuration
jpodlesnik1 Oct 7, 2010 8:09 AM (in response to Harm Millaard)Wish I had the full list in front of me (full MS Office, Decklink software, Jing, AGV, LabelMaker software, bunch of utilities, etc What I did learn is every time I burn a DVD, the media cache files (from Encore) load up the system drive. :-O
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15. Re: RAID configuration
Harm Millaard Oct 7, 2010 10:26 AM (in response to jpodlesnik1)Use a dedicated drive for the media cache. If you have 48 SSD's, there is plenty of space to choose from. Also turn off all power saving options and delete the Hyberfil.sys file. It will save quite a few GB's of space.
If you have SSD's with the SF-2000 controller, you should not have any problem.
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16. Re: RAID configuration
jpodlesnik1 Oct 7, 2010 10:41 AM (in response to Harm Millaard)Ha! No, I don't have 48 SSD drives. Two 80 GB at the moment. :-) Thanks for the tips, Harm. I'm expecting the computer this afternoon. Will perform those changes. Thanks! was hoping to OC my i7 930, but after hearing of the heat issues in the last (or recent) batch of cpus, I may just keep it at stock speed. Disappointing. :-(
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17. Re: RAID configuration
Jarliei Nov 21, 2010 1:17 AM (in response to Harm Millaard)Harm,
My computer guy is about to complete the upgrading, he ask me to approve the below HDD configuration prior to implementation. This configuration is different to your recommendation in Post 7 above and I am not 100% sure that he knows what he is doing.
He also said that the machine has only six internal HDD bays and the MOBO can only take four(?) I have no idea how come he is showing eight HDD's.I had to argue with him for two days just to get him to agree to increase the RAM from 12 to 24GB.
Can I please ask you to vet this configuration for me?
Many thanks.
Asset 48/127 - New Configuration / Nov 2010 / WIP Avaiability 24 GB RAM Purchase Disc Bay # HDD Configuration Designated Purpose 1 1TB Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s RAID(1) C:\ OS. Existing 2 1TB Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s RAID(1) Existing 3 1TB Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s RAID(1) D:\ Media. Existing 4 1TB Barracuda 7200.12 3Gb/s RAID(1) Existing 5 2TB Barracuda XT Serial ATA (SATA III) 6Gb/64MB ST32000641AS. RAID(3) E:\ Projects. Purchase 6 2TB Barracuda XT Serial ATA (SATA III) 6Gb/64MB ST32000641AS. RAID(3) Purchase 7 2TB Barracuda XT Serial ATA (SATA III) 6Gb/64MB ST32000641AS. Single Drive F:\ Exports. Purchase 8 2TB Barracuda XT Serial ATA (SATA III) 6Gb/64MB ST32000641AS. Single Drive G:\ Scratch Purchase -
18. Re: RAID configuration
Harm Millaard Nov 21, 2010 3:36 AM (in response to Jarliei)I wonder whether that was a clever move by your computer guy. He has now shown to the PR community that he does not know anything about disk setup for a video machine and even less about Raids. It is impossible to create a parity raid with less than three disks. And furthermore he has never heard of drive cages that allow the installation of 3 disks in two 5.25 bays or 5 disks in three 5.25 bays. Finally he comes up with 8 disks while stating that the mobo only has 6 SATA connectors. He expects you to purchase two more disks than can be attached and leave them idle in a closet somewhere? He is crazy.
Trying to keep the investment cost as low as possible, I suggest:
1. Purchase a Samsung F4 320 G disk for OS & programs, drive C.
2. Purchase one extra 1 TB Seagate, so you have 5 identical drives, configure them as a raid5, drive D:
This uses all the 6 SATA connectors you have. There is no more room for additional disks on the mobo, unless you buy a raid controller card, and it also meets the physical limitations of the case, at least without getting drive cages.
The D drive in raid5 will be about 3.5 times faster than a single drive and offer you 4 TB net space. With 24 GB of memory, I would leave the pagefile on C, but everything else on D, media, projects, media cache, etc.
This is by far the easiest and least costly solution.
If you need more disk space, remind me exactly what case you have and we can look at alternatives. But your Asus P6T Deluxe V2 is indeed limited to 6 SATA ports.
There may be one more snag in that you already use 1 or 2 SATA ports for DVD burners, in which case you run out of SATA connectors. That leaves you with the option to exchange the SATA burners for PATA ones, or invest in a raid controller.
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19. Re: RAID configuration
Jarliei Nov 21, 2010 11:58 AM (in response to Harm Millaard)Harm,
The plot thickens.
My case is
Antec Titan 650 ATX 650w Server Grade Full Tower Case
shown on
http://www.digiconcepts.com/antec_cases_51.htm
My MOBO is
P6T Deluxe V2
Shown on
http://www.asus.com.au/product.aspx?P_ID=iRlP8RG9han6saZx&content=download
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20. Re: RAID configuration
Jarliei Nov 21, 2010 12:08 PM (in response to Harm Millaard)..............already use 1 or 2 SATA ports for DVD burners
I have only one DVD burner.
If you need more disk space.............,
can I not have 2TB discs rather then 1TB?
...............invest in a raid controller.
Feasible.
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21. Re: RAID configuration
ECBowen Nov 22, 2010 12:38 PM (in response to Jarliei)If you decide to go with Raid 5 I would take Harm's advice and get the raid controller now anyway. Raid 5 on the onboard controller is not as reliable and the rebuild performance is absolutely horrible. It's like riding a bike in a race with sports cars all around you.
Eric
ADK
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22. Re: RAID configuration
Scott Chichelli Nov 22, 2010 3:23 PM (in response to ECBowen)function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}
ECBowen wrote:
It's like riding a bike in a race with sports cars all around you.
Eric
ADK
wow a tech with a sense of humor didint know you had it in ya...
sorry couldnt resist
Scott
ADK
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23. Re: RAID configuration
Jeff Bellune Nov 22, 2010 6:36 PM (in response to Scott Chichelli)JCschild wrote:
function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}
ECBowen wrote:
It's like riding a bike in a race with sports cars all around you.
Eric
ADK
wow a tech with a sense of humor didint know you had it in ya...
sorry couldnt resist
Scott
ADK
Didn't Eric forbid you from handling support calls? I'm sure that includes commenting on the real support folks.
-Jeff
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24. Re: RAID configuration
Scott Chichelli Nov 23, 2010 5:14 AM (in response to Jeff Bellune)they dont let me do much anymore! surprised they havent banned me from posting yet. i hear they are buying me a spell check and grammer book this Christmas
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25. Re: RAID configuration
ECBowen Nov 23, 2010 5:56 AM (in response to Scott Chichelli)Your Banned
Atleast until we get you the book
Eric
ADK
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26. Re: RAID configuration
Jarliei Nov 23, 2010 6:27 PM (in response to ECBowen)Eric,
re your post 21 - thanks.
I have followed up the suggestion for a card controller and spoke to Areca, they have advised me to use the simplest card in their stable, the ARC-1020, which I’ll purchase, this is the simple bit.
Regarding RAID configuration their thoughts differ.
They said “Definitely NO” to RAID(5) on account of that in the event of one disc failure during a “Write” operation, the whole Array of the four disc will have it’s data corrupted.*.
I was then advised that a configuration of RAID(6) for the four 2TB WDCAVIAR BLACK will provid a lesser net capacity but a greater safer operational environment in the event of one disc failure.*.
But! they strongly recommend a RAID(10) for the 4x2TB.*.
‘ * Don’t even THINK to ask me to explain!
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27. Re: RAID configuration
ECBowen Nov 24, 2010 6:43 AM (in response to Jarliei)The corruption they speak of is even more likely with a mirror raid set versus a parity raid set. I am surprised they did not mention that. The simple resolution to data corruption on writing is the parity check. If you have that scheduled regularly,your errors will be detected and resolved. A raid 6 add's the second level parity to compare with the first which further aids the parity verification. The key to a parity raid set is running the parity verifications. As long as you do that, you will be fine.
Eric
ADK
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