Windows 10 - RAID 10

[adzam5]

I currently have Windows 10 installed on a Kingston HyperX 3k 120GB SSD and have a WD 1TB HDD for storage. I am adding 3 more HyperX SSD's to make a RAID 10 array. I will put the OS and programs on the array and continue to use the other drive for storage. In the future I may add a second 1TB HDD and put them in a RAID 1 array.

Once I have the array setup I will be doing a fresh install of Win10. I also plan on running VirtualBox with at least 1 Linux guest.

The main question I have is should I create multiple partitions on the array of should I keep it as one? If creating multiple partitions is the way to go, what would you recommend?

I have never used a RAID array on a non-Linux box so I am wondering if anyone has any tips or advice before I start my project.

 

[bigdogchris]

Considering you're using SSDs, I really see no reason to partition. With spinning disk you could make the argument partitions are nice to keep data together to reduce fragmentation but that doesn't matter with SSD's. Also, because you're only going to have around 334GB usable space, partitioning will just cause issues with how you allocate space. You may end up having too much for one partition or not enough for another.

You may want to consider that with 6 SSD's, you may be better off doing a RAID5 setup. RAID5 would give you more space and is fine for sequential reading/writing. Just running VM's and applications do not require the benefit of increased random IOPS from RAID10.

 

[adzam5]

Considering you're using SSDs, I really see no reason to partition. With spinning disk you could make the argument partitions are nice to keep data together to reduce fragmentation but that doesn't matter with SSD's. Also, because you're only going to have around 334GB usable space, partitioning will just cause issues with how you allocate space. You may end up having too much for one partition or not enough for another.

You may want to consider that with 6 SSD's, you may be better off doing a RAID5 setup. RAID5 would give you more space and is fine for sequential reading/writing. Just running VM's and applications do not require the benefit of increased random IOPS from RAID10.

Thank you for your input! Your reply kind of made me wish I went with bigger drives! I've only used about 30GB of my current OS/program drive though so I should be good.

You brought up an interesting point about RAID 5 possibly being better for my needs. After doing some more research, a lot of people say if they were building a new array they would not use RAID 5, but it is still something I am now considering.

Thanks again!

 

[bigdogchris]

You brought up an interesting point about RAID 5 possibly being better for my needs. After doing some more research, a lot of people say if they were building a new array they would not use RAID 5, but it is still something I am now considering.

Many people don't consider price/performance and just look at artificial benchmarks when making their decision.

RAID10 is absolutely superior under heavy IO (database,etc). But if you're just running OS and applications it's not going to matter. RAID5 will still give you 5x read with 6 disk compared to only 3x read boost with 6 disk RAID 10.

70/30 (read/write) is kind of a good place to start but for many people I suspect writing will be perhaps 15% of the time or less anyways. Why sacrifice half of your storage for a boost to 15% of disk activity? It doesn't make sense.