Storage Benchmarking

K

kaiweiler

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
314
I'm looking to get a benchmark of my current storage situation.
I am running two 250gb drive in a raid0 array.
One is Sata1 the other is Sata2, I just want to know if my array could actually be hampering performance.

What's the best tool to get a benchmark that I can compare to the specs given by each HDD manufacturer?
 
HD Tach doesn't work with Vista
Used HD Tune and this is what I got, don't really see anything I can compare to single HD specs.
I do know the max transfer rate of the Sata1 (seagate) is 78 MB/s. So that means my array is performing well?

How do the other numbers look for a Raid-0 array?

hdstats.jpg


The two drives in the array are:
1x WD 2500KS (Sata2, 250 GB, 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16 MB buffer)
1x ST3250620AS (Sata1, 250 GB, 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB buffer)
 
This is more related to reliability, but I would jumper the Sata 2 drive to Sata 1 so that it matches the other drive.
 
In an "Ideal" RAID array you should be using identical drives. Having one drive that is capable of twice the theoretical data throughput of the other is a pretty big difference.
 
Think I would see a benefit in access time if I just boot from the single WD Sata2 drive?
 
kaiweiler said:
HD Tach doesn't work with Vista
Used HD Tune and this is what I got, don't really see anything I can compare to single HD specs.
I do know the max transfer rate of the Sata1 (seagate) is 78 MB/s. So that means my array is performing well?

How do the other numbers look for a Raid-0 array?

The two drives in the array are:
1x WD 2500KS (Sata2, 250 GB, 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16 MB buffer)
1x ST3250620AS (Sata1, 250 GB, 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB buffer)
Click to expand...

I think it's working OK. Older/smaller HDs (250GB) will typically be slower than today's w/greater data density per platter, and my 500 & 750 GBs (non RAID) run 35-55MB/s with HDTune. RAIDs typically have higher Burst Rates than that 115MB/s listed, but that's less important than the actual Transfer Rates. I think you'll find larger/newer RAID0s running a little faster than yours (70-120 MB/s), but nothing wrong with the speeds listed.

How long does it take you to copy a 1 GB file onto itself? If it's well under 30s, that's pretty decent actual (non benchmark) performance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top