How to enable TRIM in Raid mode - SSD not part of the RAID Array?

[keplenk]

Hi all,

I have 3 Raid controllers in my motherboard. These are the ICH10R, Jmicron JMB36x, and the Marvell 9123. Totally I have 9 Sata ports. 6 of them belong to the P55 ICH10R, 2 of them (colored white) belong to the Marvell 9123, and the last 1 is for the Jmicron.

Currently I have 2 x 500GB Samsung F3 Spinpoints drives running in Raid 0 connected to ports 5/6 (which is part of the ICH10R) and I have 1 x Kingston SSDNow V Series 64gb installed in SATA port 0 (also part of the ICH10R).

Since I run Samsung Raid on the same Intel Raid Controller, does it also remove TRIM on my SSD which is part of the same controller (even though it is not setup as RAID)? I heard that TRIM is still supported in a RAID setup as long as the SSD is not part of the RAID array which is like my setup. Could anyone please confirm this?

On the other hand, the Marvell 9123 Controllers (SATA III) are so crappy in RAID and non-RAID (AHCI) and the performance of my Samsung F3s are literally halved compared to the ICH10R. The Jmicron sucks even more. Even my Kingston SSD in which is single, runs crappy with the Marvell controller. I don't have any choice but to go all ICH10R.

Lastly, I need an advice for an SSD purchase because I plan to return this Kingston SSD that I have.

Which would you prefer --

Intel x25-m

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-027-_-Product

or the

2 x Corsair F40 in Raid 0

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...233130&Tpk=f40

I know that I'll lose TRIM but that is fine since I'll just to the maintenance manually (by imaging, then secure erase, then restore image back to the SSD) from time to time. Also, I will be using my F3s to store data so TRIM is really not important as of now. Also the Corsair is going to be cheaper after rebate

I've heard good things about the SandForce controllers and I think I'll jump to the bandwagon.

Are there issues with the SF-1200 that you know of?

Thanks for your help!

Specs:

Core i7 870 @ stock
MSI P55-GD85 (BIOS 1.3)
2 x 4gb G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 (XMP Enabled)
1 x Kingston SSDNow V 64gb (soon to be replaced)
2 x 500gb Samsung F3 Spinpoint (Raid 0)
Corsair 650TX
Mugen 2 Rev B
Sata Dvdrom

 

[Yellowbeard]

As a company rep, I don't ever get into threads to reply specifically about buying Corsair vs another brand as it's just not professional and most forums frown upon it. I just wanted to comment on your questions about the F40s.

The performance is awesome in RAID-0. In your intended usage scenario above I would expect the performance to be amazing at first and then will drop some, perhaps 10%-20% as the drives get full or get a lot of written blocks where TRIM or GC would need to kick in. However, with your intended maintenance method, this will not be an issue.

Also, the F40s ship only with our newest production firmware so no worries there.

 

[keplenk]

As a company rep, I don't ever get into threads to reply specifically about buying Corsair vs another brand as it's just not professional and most forums frown upon it. I just wanted to comment on your questions about the F40s.

The performance is awesome in RAID-0. In your intended usage scenario above I would expect the performance to be amazing at first and then will drop some, perhaps 10%-20% as the drives get full or get a lot of written blocks where TRIM or GC would need to kick in. However, with your intended maintenance method, this will not be an issue.

Also, the F40s ship only with our newest production firmware so no worries there.

Hey thanks for the reply. Do you think that there would be a possibility in the future that will make TRIM or GC work in RAID 0 for the F40s or maybe Sandforce will release anything like that? Right now, are there no alternatives for trim/gc in sandforce raid-0 drives?


Thanks

 

[Yellowbeard]

It has GC but the way it has been explained to me is that is different from other drive controllers. It's an FGC (Foreground vs Background) but that it only cleans while the drive is being written to and only as needed. It is not out doing a lot of proactive cleaning. So, what happens is, you get GREAT performance at first then it drops like any other SSD. Then it levels off and stays stable for a while. But, the GC won't improve performance from that point. It will keep it stable though.

No clue on TRIM for RAID as I don't know specifically what the obstacles are.

 

[Mark_K]

I'm a data architect so I quess there are Support Artists....lol
Architect, Artist we're both drawing pretty pictures.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

If you have an intel SSD with the latest RAID drivers...I forget which...you can run your SSD with TRIMM and still do RAID for the data. That's what I do on my ASUS motherboard. I have 4 x 500GB RAID0 and boot SSD running with TRIMM. I've checked it several times and Trimm seems to work well. I really wish that someone would add some type of TRIMM support to RAID devices, but I understand that the technical issues related to this would be rather difficult to overcome.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Whoa, 4x500GB RAID 0 for storage? You're brave.

 

[FishAk]

Whoa, 4x500GB RAID 0 for storage? You're brave.

This is not as scary as it sounds. It's only 2Tb total capacity. 2-1Tb disks backing up the array would be easy and make it safe, while getting the performance benefit of the RAID 0 in normal use.