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ok, a little over a year ago, when I bought my new Dell system..we all had a discussion about the system coming with a Raid 0 configuration and how I couldn't change that option upon purchasing.....

Now I am going to do a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate x64 bit and teh question of the raid configuration comes to mind again. I have read several forums and such that say a Raid 0 really doesn't have any effective benefits so now that I am starting fresh...what do you all recommend...

1. Keep the raid 0
2. Set up a different raid structure
3. Get rid of the Raid structure and go back to having two 500GB internal hard drives

If you think a raid structure of some kind should be kept, then how do I change that with a clean install?

Thanks again for your help and discussions!

If you can convert it to RAID 1 for mirroring (to protect against single drive failure), I think you'll be miles ahead.

The questions are: what you're going to use the RAID for, and how important is the data on the RAID?

I think for general use, RAID 0 is going to feel a little snappier but I don't think it's worth the risk.

In my personal setup, I use a RAID 1 for my important stuff (Windows install, documents, mail, software, work and projects) and then a RAID 0 as a games and scratch drive. I will say I don't ever see myself using a desktop without a RAID 1 again. The peace of mind is nice.

RAID 0 is not RAID. It is not Redundant. It is certainly inapplicable for anything you're not willing to lose. IMO one of the few appropriate uses of RAID 0 would be as a massive & fast scratch disk for image, video, and music editing.

Captain Ned wrote:

RAID 0 is not RAID. It is not Redundant. It is certainly inapplicable for anything you're not willing to lose. IMO one of the few appropriate uses of RAID 0 would be as a massive & fast scratch disk for image, video, and music editing.

There's always one.

Everyone already knows RAID 0 isn't actually RAID, but thank you for waving your "I know things" flag.

I never wanted RAID 0 to begin with..but that is how the system came.

I don't store any data on the drive with the operating system. All data is stored on external hard drives escept for the software installed of course. The only data I have on the local hard drive is material being used to make videos which is then backed up and archived once the video is finished. So I am not sure how much a RAID 1 will help me unless I start using the drive more for data storage.

scpulp wrote:

Captain Ned wrote:

RAID 0 is not RAID. It is not Redundant. It is certainly inapplicable for anything you're not willing to lose. IMO one of the few appropriate uses of RAID 0 would be as a massive & fast scratch disk for image, video, and music editing.

There's always one.

Everyone already knows RAID 0 isn't actually RAID, but thank you for waving your "I know things" flag.

Surprisingly enough not everyone knows that. Time and time again we need to educate people on that.

You don't need to be a schmuck about it. /mod

Reading up a little more on RAIDs, logically the RAID 0 still might make the best sense for me. Since I don't store data on the OS hard drives and I do video production and editing and a lot of image editing..which are the recommended uses for RAID 0, doesn't it make sense to actually keep with that structure?

If you think a RAID 1 is still best, what direct advantages are there in my case..because I fail to see them. In terms of back-ups in data..I have 4 external harddrives..two used for data, one used soley as a backup of 2 of the drives while the forth drive holds all of my video animations (having the original DVDs as the back-up there). Lastly, I then make back-up DVDs of the data also. Granted i admit, due to recent health problems, my DVD archives are a bit behind but still, I take my data seriously and have watched too many people lose too much because of having no backups.

So then the question also comes into to play is the RAID still the best or would it be better to use one hard drive for the OS and installed software and the other drive for when working on my video productions to hold the video materials and such until teh video is completed and the data archived?

RAID 0 isn't the antichrist. Sure, if one drive dies, you lose both, but if you store all your videos/images on one drive, and that happens to be the one that dies, then you lose it all anyway.

Besides, you seem to back up plenty, so I wouldn't worry too much about disk failure. I'm sure you'll notice the extra speed with your uses, so I'd probably stick with RAID if I were you

RAID0 on smaller drives makes more sense than on larger drives. I used to have my 36GB Raptor drives then my 74GB Raptor drives in a RAID0 array and they were quiker.However. I always had larger drives for storage and whatknought. IMHO. Smaller drives and RAID0,yes. Larger drives,no. Disable RAID in your BIOS and then partition one drive for your O/S say...120GB then use the rest of the space to store stuff. Also with Windows 7 ( Which I also have ) I am using 200GB on a partition for Windows image in case my SSD drive takes a nap and doesn't wake up.

Fox, calling me names doesn't do anyone any favors either. I can apologize for being short - without being too personal we'll just say "I've been sick" - but the insult is equally unnecessary.

Being on-topic, I will say that for video production, RAID 0 is excellent...as a scratch disk.

If you're running just two hard drives in your desktop, I actually suggest not using ANY form of RAID. When you render for video production, you want to be reading data off of one drive and then rendering the final video to a separate one. Hard drives are a major bottleneck in any system, so if you're sourcing and then rendering to the exact same RAID array, odds are you'll be throttled by that (which is a problem I ran into on my own build early on.)

Honestly, my suggestion would be to add one or two drives, do a RAID 0 for your scratch disk and either a single drive or a RAID 1 for your project and final render disk. What makes this setup sketchy these days, however, is that pretty much all modern video cameras are tapeless. My HDR-FX1 shoots HDV on regular DV cassettes, so I can put all my video on a scratch RAID 0 and not worry about the RAID failing and losing all my stuff. The footage is already logged in the project file, worst thing that happens is I have to recapture my footage. Tapeless cameras don't give you that luxury, but at least you have a good backup plan already going.

If you want more advice I'd be happy to talk to you in PMs, actually. I built my desktop explicitly for doing video production work and went through a lot of trial and error to get it where it was (...until the motherboard died), and I can give you a few pointers on hardware, software, and everything in between.

scpulp wrote:

I will say that for video production, RAID 0 is excellent...as a scratch disk.

If you're running just two hard drives in your desktop, I actually suggest not using ANY form of RAID. When you render for video production, you want to be reading data off of one drive and then rendering the final video to a separate one. Hard drives are a major bottleneck in any system, so if you're sourcing and then rendering to the exact same RAID array, odds are you'll be throttled by that (which is a problem I ran into on my own build early on.)

Honestly, my suggestion would be to add one or two drives, do a RAID 0 for your scratch disk and either a single drive or a RAID 1 for your project and final render disk.

Agreed with this suggestion. If you get heavy duty enough multiple "spindles" (RAID array = 1 spindle) would be my suggestion as well. I have been advocating multiple spindles over RAID0 for years (if you can find those old posts). I almost always go with 2 drives, 1 for system+apps and another to put my pagefile, for starters. However, whether GG should pursue this may depend on a few things.

scpulp wrote:

What makes this setup sketchy these days, however, is that pretty much all modern video cameras are tapeless. My HDR-FX1 shoots HDV on regular DV cassettes, so I can put all my video on a scratch RAID 0 and not worry about the RAID failing and losing all my stuff. The footage is already logged in the project file, worst thing that happens is I have to recapture my footage. Tapeless cameras don't give you that luxury, but at least you have a good backup plan already going.

Apart from HDD based camera where you are pretty much forced to vacate the drive to make room, newer cams that take SDHC/SDXC cards should be ok in this regard?

GG: A few things to check:
1. Make sure you have all the drivers on the reinstall. Dell should be pretty good in that you just enter the tag number and the list of drivers should be there.
2. What HDDs are they giving you? I have seen some Dells coming with last gen Seagate drives which by themselves may be a bit slow.
3. Check the availability of SATA power connectors and SATA ports.
4. Check to see if you need special brackets to mount extra drives. I suppose a Dell XPS should have slots for you to put the drives but if you need special brackets+screws that may be the gotcha.

Still not sure why you got Ultimate when Professional would have been sufficient (if you don't need to join a domain IMO even Home Premium is enough). Like the Dell I suppose I'll get the "we told you so" out of the way so we can move on.

So it seems like this discussion may benefit from some up-dating. I'm about to do a PC set up for High Def. video for the first time. Most editing software is recommending RAID 0 for HD. Are 15K rpm drives recommended and should you really have four drives? 2 for reading and 2 for writing? Still a good idea to stick with the smaller capacities? Thanks!

Reading up a little more on RAIDs, logically the RAID 0 still might make the best sense for me. Since I don't store data on the OS hard drives and I do video production and editing and a lot of image editing..which are the recommended uses for RAID 0, doesn't it make sense to actually keep with that structure?

If you think a RAID 1 is still best, what direct advantages are there in my case..because I fail to see them. In terms of back-ups in data..I have 4 external harddrives..two used for data, one used soley as a backup of 2 of the drives while the forth drive holds all of my video animations (having the original DVDs as the back-up there). Lastly, I then make back-up DVDs of the data also. Granted i admit, due to recent health problems, my DVD archives are a bit behind but still, I take my data seriously and have watched too many people lose too much because of having no backups.

Since you already have a backup strategy in place, I don't see any problem with sticking with RAID 0.