150GB Hard drive recommendation for RAID 10?

[sun818]

I'm doing a lot of work with Microsoft Access. About three different databases ranging from 500MB to 1.5GB. Lots of queries (both reads and writes). My Mirrored setup (Seagate ST3160023AS) is helping with reads, but I need better write performance. I'm looking to set up 4 SATA drives on my Dell Dimension 8400 which has built-in Intel RAID. Can any recommend a good performing and reliable drive? I don't need a lot of storage as I already have a network file server (ReadyNAS) for that.

 

[Nothinman]

There are plenty of free SQL servers, please stop using MS Access. Actually you can use Access as long as it's just a front-end to one of those SQL servers.

 

[sun818]

Thanks, but that wasn't the question though. I'm not asking about the merits between SQL Server vs Microsoft Access. I agree though, I would use SQL Server if I could, but the applications I use require Microsoft Access as the database.

 

[Denithor]

If you want faster reads/writes you have three possible options.

1) Velociraptor 150GB
2) Intel 80GB MLC SSD
3) SuperSpeed RamDisk Plus (4GB or higher)

For the last option install some additional memory in your computer (cheap these days), set up the ramdisk and save a copy of your database onto it. Work from that copy and set the autobackup feature to save your work to permanent disk every so often. Make sure you're on a UPS so you don't lose your work if the power blinks.

 

[sun818]

Hmmm, you mentioned RAM disk. I thought I saw something by Gigabyte that was a hard drive but you put a bunch of memory chips inside?

edit: found it - its called the i-RAM: http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte...rd-Drive/dp/B000EPM9NC

This would be a nice supplement I don't have to use a disk space and the database could have the hard drive all to itself.

I think I'm leaning towards the Velociraptors. Are they noisy at all? I have some 500GB Seagate Barracuda and they make a lot of noise and write slow.

 

[Denithor]

Updated version of the i-RAM: Acard 9010/9010B.

Uses DDR2 memory instead of DDR (so much cheaper/higher capacity). Rather expensive but look at those throughputs...

I have never owned Raptors/Velociraptors so cannot comment on noise level. Any owners out there?

 

[sun818]

$135 for the unit, plus ~$30 per 1GB stick. I'm probably looking at $250 to use DDR instead of DDR2. Some of my friends are saying I should just run mirrored Raptors since the performance on will be better than the drives I currently have. They strongly suggested I not use stripe since the data will also be my OS drive. What do you guys think?

 

[faxon]

you could run a stripe if you have something backing it up in some way or another. if you just keep the OS and any programs you can just reinstall on it (without save data loss, worrying about bookmarks, ect ect), what you can do is install everything to the stripe, and then make a backup image on a separate drive you dont keep connected to the rest of the system. this way you can just copy the image back onto the drives if anything goes wrong

 

[Denithor]

There's a guy who compared the Acard 9010 (raid0 model) to the i-RAM in this thread. Basically the only advantages are the lower cost of DDR2 (offset by higher cost of device) and the higher capacity of DDR2 (which is a serious advantage - the 4GB limit on the i-RAM is really low).

And concerning the i-RAM, if 4GB is enough capacity you are probably better off (cheaper) just going with a software RAMdisk like I mentioned above. Cost of software is $50 and cost of 4GB more DDR2 is $20 (after rebate at frys.com). Install the additional RAM in your system, install the superspeed ramdisk software, setup the ramdisk, set the automatic backup to do its thing every 5-10 minutes.

 

[sun818]

Denithor - thanks for your good advice. Normally, I would something like you suggested, but I have two strikes against me: 1) I'm running Windows 2000 still (I know, I know...) and 2) I think 2 out of the 4 memory banks on my Dell got fried so I can only run 2GB. Every time I put 2 x 1GB in the remaining banks, I get a serious of failure beeps. Anyway, I ordered the i-RAM, 4 x 1GB DDR, and probably the raptors in the next 30 days.

 

[Denithor]

Let us know if that i-RAM speeds up your database processing significantly. I'm curious how many applications out there actually take advantage of a super-fast drive.

 

[sun818]

Woo! I got my i-RAM yesterday. Finally made time to install this morning. I haven't moved the database file over to the RAM drive, but I do have my browser cache and e-mail indexer over there. Fantastically fast. I don't think I can ever go back to putting the browser cache on a hard disk. Browsing is so much faster. I'll report back when I have the database moved over. I'll just be doing time comparison (start time & end time) on the hard drive, then on the i-RAM.