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Date:      Fri, 6 Nov 1998 19:42:15 -0500 (EST)
From:      Bill Vermillion <bill@bilver.magicnet.net>
To:        freebsd-fs@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: RAID1 Software vs Hardware
Message-ID:  <199811070042.TAA27229@bilver.magicnet.net>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9811061332290.455-100000@ender.sf.scient.com> from Christopher Nielsen at "Nov 6, 98 01:35:51 pm"

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Christopher Nielsen recently said:

> On Fri, 6 Nov 1998, Bagnara Stefano wrote:

> > Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 17:35:58 +0100 From: Bagnara Stefano
> > <bago@datasail.it> To: freebsd-fs@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: RAID1
> > Software vs Hardware                                   ^^^^^

> > I need to implement a simple raid1 with 2 9gigs SCSI HDD. I    .
> > Ineed a inexpensive solution ... so i was thinking about a     .
> > Isoftware raid1 s it possible? is it too slow? the system will .
> > Ibe only a mail server                                         .

> Your really not going to see very good performance with RAID if
> you're using only two spindles (i.e., discs). You might want
> to try going with 4 4G discs, if possible. The question of
> performance is directly related to exactly how much I/O you're
> going to be shoving through the discs. "Only a mail server"
> doesn't really provide enough information, IMHO.

I've found that I get a 50% throughput increase (typical)when
running RAID 0 with 2 drives.  RAID 0 is always the fastest, but
any failure will stop you dead.  RAID 1 will give no increase in
some areas, and writes are slower, but it will boost the read
throughput if different files are being accessed, just as if you
load balanced multiple single disks..

A good bet is a small boot drive, and then put the stripes on a
pair of larger drives.  Thus you have the recovery tools in place
to restore after a disaster.   Otherwise you have to go back
to square one and install the OS.  Not a big problem in a 2 drive
mirror - but still a safety factor.





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