[FUState]

Hi.
I just received two solid state crucial m4 256gb drives. I am planning on raid striping them for my operating system.
When I'm done with this process I should have done the following -
Current
Op Drive C: Program Drive G:
New
Op Drive Raid 0 C:
I had too small of a drive initially on my system so I had split my program files onto drive G: which saved my C: drive, but my C: drive is full already and splitting program files and user files seems to be causing issues on my computer.
Is there a way to simplify this procedure before I get started?
I imagine I will have to do a clean install onto the new drives and install all the programs as well. If there is something I can do to simplify this process I would really appreciate any advice since my last upgrade took me longer than it was supposed to.
My work files are on drive H: so I do not need to back those up or restore them. I would just like to know of any tips, and my googling has yielded no fruit (as I may not be using the right perameters.)
** ** **
Current system specs
Windows 7 64
Quad Intel Core i5-2400 @3.1GHz
16 GB Ram
2 x GeForce GTX650Ti
Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD4-B3
- I am not sure about RAID 0 for SSD based on the following specifcation for my MB -
**** ***
Chipset: 1.2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3_0~SATA3_1) supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices
2.4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2_2~SATA2_5) supporting up to 4 SATA 3Gb/s devices
3.Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10
* When a RAID set is built across the SATA 6Gb/s and SATA 3Gb/s channels, the system performance of the RAID set may vary depending on the devices being connected.
**** ***

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Hi FUState
From my reading, it appears that the new TRIM support for RAID O on SSDs is only supported on a series 7 Mobo and you have a series 6 Mobo.

Some information for you.
> http://www.anandtech.com/show/6161/intel-brings-trim-to-raid0-ssd-arrays-on-7series-motherboards-we-test-it
> http://www.techradar...-1099598/review
> http://www.4d.com/bl...-august-31.html


Update, TRIM on older chipsets possible, but done at your own risk.
> http://www.anandtech...otherboards-too


Are you sure that it is programs taking up room? more likely to be My Docs, downloads, music and video files.

[iammykyl]

Hi FUState
From my reading, it appears that the new TRIM support for RAID O on SSDs is only supported on a series 7 Mobo and you have a series 6 Mobo.

Some information for you.
> http://www.anandtech.com/show/6161/intel-brings-trim-to-raid0-ssd-arrays-on-7series-motherboards-we-test-it
> http://www.techradar...-1099598/review
> http://www.4d.com/bl...-august-31.html


Update, TRIM on older chipsets possible, but done at your own risk.
> http://www.anandtech...otherboards-too


Are you sure that it is programs taking up room? more likely to be My Docs, downloads, music and video files.

[FUState]

I like the links you supplied... very informative.

Yes, it is the program files causing the issues (not necessarily taking up room.)
I have my documents (music pictures User accounts etc...) on drive H:
Programs on drive G: (because they did not fit on C:) I bought much too small a drive originally (definitely more than double Microsoft's minimum requirements next time.)

I did not realize that trim was not on my motherboard, so thank you for that.
As I am going to be installing my operating system and my program files on the system drive, I think I will RAID 0 it without TRIM as it will be mostly read drives, and will again put my documents on a separate drive.

So my system will be
C: Raid 0 Op sys and programs
F: Working files (my documents etc...)
G: Backup drive

Is there a way to backup my striped C: (once I have this built) so that in a failure I can just plug in two cloned drives and not miss a beat?

[iammykyl]

As I am going to be installing my operating system and my program files on the system drive, I think I will RAID 0 it without TRIM

Without TRIM, performance will rapidly degrade, hence until recently, RAID 0 was pretty useless.
Redundant array of independent disks for RAID 0 is a misnomer as there is no reduncancy. Blocks of DATA are written alternatively to each drive and when one fails you loose everything, not a disaster (for home use) providing your DATA is on a separate disk and you backup regulary, just means you have to do a fresh install.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

Is there a way to backup my striped C: (once I have this built) so that in a failure I can just plug in two cloned drives and not miss a beat?

Not in a conventional sense of backup. A normal type of backup will not work and most will say there is no way to to do so, even using an image of the drive.
This guy erpsaa insists and clams that he uses a successful method of backing up the OS drive. Not tried it, > http://www.tomshardw...nis-clone-raid0

I would not use RAID 0 for the OS regardless of the type of drive. A 120GB SSD with proper management is very good for most users, or if you have a HUGE amount of programs, a 250GB could be used.

What exactly is the issue you are having?

[FUState]

Just to confirm again, being as I want to use the system drive as a RAID 0, once the install has been done and the programs have been installed there should be basically no more writing done on C:
My understand of TRIM is basically that it erases blocks proactively on SSDs so that once the drive is full, your system does not have to erase the blocks as it writes new data.
Should my read speed not double?

The issue is mainly just quirks and random hangs on startup. I have gone through this computer with a fine tooth comb a few times on this site... and things just keep giving me issues...
Maybe I will wait until spring and then upgrade my motherboard as well as I've already spent a lot of money.

As I now have a small 28GB C: ... is there a way to clone it with one of my 256GB Drives and swap it out good as new?
I will check the link that you supplied in your last post, but from context I am not sure if stripe backups are different.

[iammykyl]

once the install has been done and the programs have been installed there should be basically no more writing done on C:

There will be all the normal writes as with any OS drive. internet files, bookmarks, history, saved images, etc. Any office type files. They would all have to be deleted at some time. Where you have moved My Docs, music etc, to another drive, they of course would not be written to the SSDbut the files would most likely be manipulated on the SSD.

My understand of TRIM is basically that it erases blocks proactively on SSDs so that once the drive is full, your system does not have to erase the blocks as it writes new data.

You are always writing to the SSD. You write files to a block, the file can be much smaller than the block size so the rest of the block is left empty. Without TRIM and a full HDD, when you try a write, the controller looks for blocks with small files, reads, then writes the files to vacant space on another block until ithere is enough space to perform the awaiting write. Please read through this post as I think it is explained a bit better.
> http://superuser.com...de-without-trim
More info, > http://lifehacker.co...id state-drives
You could still try your desired configuration to see if it will work providing you have a backup of any sensitive DATA.

As I now have a small 28GB C: ... is there a way to clone it with one of my 256GB Drives and swap it out good as new?

Could be wrong but, I do not think this will work well, you will need to do further research on SSD alignment.
> http://www.sevenforu...-alignment.html

[FUState]

I have decided to postpone this until spring, when I will get a TRIM motherboard.

Thanks for your help, you expanded my knowledge and my PC will be better for it!

[iammykyl]

OK FUSate.
Thanks for the heads up, look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Good luck.