Understanding RAID 5 with SSD (Solid State Drives)
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Wish I'd known this when I purchased a new server in January and it makes the cost difference between SSD and traditional drives much closer (since you don't need as many SSD drives for the same useable storage).
This is a real eye opener for me.
So is RAID 5 set to become the de facto choice for the majority of SMBs now?
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@Carnival-Boy Only if you're using SSD's.
If your running a classic hard drive(spinning rust) go with RAID 10.
Maybe if the price of SSDs come down even more would RAID 10 be viable for use with SSDs
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Yes. I'm assuming that SSDs will become the norm soon, and hence RAID 5 will become the primary choice.
To answer your last point, what's the pros of RAID 10 for SSD?
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@Carnival-Boy said:
To answer your last point, what's the pros of RAID 10 for SSD?
The same as for spinning rust. The cons though (cost and size) outweigh the benefits. You get faster resilver, faster I/O, etc. what is underneath the RAID does not change those facts because that is part of how RAID works.
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I'm guessing that RAID 6 would be more beneficial compared to the cost of RAID 10 with SSD. As Scott mentioned, if you need more performance than RAID 5 SSD can provide, you're probably looking at other options already anyway.
I bet the power and cooling requirements for RAID 5 (or 6) are noticeably less than spinning rust at the same usable capacity.
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Great Post.
I've often seen people over at spiceworks blindly put down anyone suggesting RAID 5 as an option when brought up in SSD discussions. They've learned RAID 5 = bad period not RAID 5 = bad because of the above reasons.
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@Drew - Ahh, internet mob mentality.
People want to be liked, so they will parrot whatever the current gospel wisdom is regardless of understanding.
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@JaredBusch said:
@Breffni-Potter said:
@Drew - Ahh, internet mob mentality.
So much this.
Actually wait, that applies to anything, just look at most users. Not just internet mobs.
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@Breffni-Potter said:
Actually wait, that applies to anything, just look at most users. Not just internet mobs.
It is widely applicable, but simply more pronounced in the pseudo anonymous realm of the internet.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
So is RAID 5 set to become the de facto choice for the majority of SMBs now?
I would say so as long as to become is dependent on SSDs also becoming the standard, which they are set to be but are not yet. I'd say SSDs as the SMB default for new installs is likely close to two years ago, but getting close in IT terms for sure.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Yes. I'm assuming that SSDs will become the norm soon, and hence RAID 5 will become the primary choice.
Yes, and like on Winchester drives, RAID 5 will probably remain the standard for many years.
Unlike Winchester drives where UREs and massive capacity caused RAID 5 to "fail" on effectiveness, by guess is that for SSDs the disruptor is going to be a move to inclusive SSD systems like FusionIO that are not treated like traditional drives and the RAID is built into the system.
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@Drew said:
Great Post.
I've often seen people over at spiceworks blindly put down anyone suggesting RAID 5 as an option when brought up in SSD discussions. They've learned RAID 5 = bad period not RAID 5 = bad because of the above reasons.
Which is how we got into the problematic position in the first place because everyone read the white papers from 1998 that said "RAID 5 is generally the best choice because of cost savings" and interpreted that as RAID 5 = good and failed to learn the reasons that RAID 5 was chosen on small Winchester disks in the late 1990s.
It's amazing how quickly the pattern of attempting to learn IT as a simple set of rules rather than "good starting points combined with an understanding of the technology so that it is understood when to deviate from the norm."
The worst part is probably that so many people think that IT is so simplistic that we can have a simple set of rules that anyone without training could follow blindly rather than needing to actually understand the technology and apply that knowledge as needed. This is what leads, I think, to say many posts asking "What's the best X" as if there is always one single answer and that the secret to IT is getting this closely guarded knowledge rather than needing to understand products, techniques, risk, cost, etc.
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@Breffni-Potter I agree with everything Scott says, with the exception of stopping at strange bars in the middle of the jungle at 10:00 at night.
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@Bob-Beatty said:
@Breffni-Potter I agree with everything Scott says, with the exception of stopping at strange bars in the middle of the jungle at 10:00 at night.
That was more like "on the edge of the jungle" and @pchiodo will back me up that that was a great decision.
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@Bob-Beatty said:
@Breffni-Potter I agree with everything Scott says, with the exception of stopping at strange bars in the middle of the jungle at 10:00 at night.
Are you honestly telling me it was just the "one" thing you disagreed with?
I suspect there might be a few more bar visits you would object to if you cast your mind back.
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@Breffni-Potter said:
@Bob-Beatty said:
@Breffni-Potter I agree with everything Scott says, with the exception of stopping at strange bars in the middle of the jungle at 10:00 at night.
Are you honestly telling me it was just the "one" thing you disagreed with?
I suspect there might be a few more bar visits you would object to if you cast your mind back.
haha! I.. cant.... remember too many bar visits with Scott, or I may agree with your comment...
