Best Set-Up for RAID 0

[CrimsnTide]

I have started messing around with home video and transferring to DVD. I’m also looking into networking my TiVo to obtain some different material and fooling around with that. With this comes the need for space to work. I’m “happy” with my system now which is a dual 2.4 Xeon system, sitting on a SuperMicro P4DCE+ board, (yes, it’s a i860, 603 pin chipset) maxed out with 2 GB of RDRAM. I have two SCSI drives (10K’s) running on a Adaptec 29160 board. Although it’s a couple (few?) years old, I’m still satisfied with its performance. I work a lot with CAD programs and still will continue to do so. I have just acquired some new hard drives and would like some opinions on setting these up. The NEW hard drives are:

(3) Seagate ST336756LW 36GB 15K U320
(1) Seagate ST336732LW 36GB 15K U320
(1) Seagate St3146807LW 146GB 10K U320

All have a 8MB buffer...

I also have a Dell PERC4/SC (MegaRAID 320-1) controller coming. My question is whether to RAID these drives or go with just a basic U320 SCSI controller and doing a chain... I dMy first thought is to put two of these 36GB drives together in a RAID 0. With that, I wouldn’t be paranoid on what goes on there. Maybe even three 36GB drives and put my OS up front (on the fourth drive), dumping my B.S. apps and other things on the 10K drive….I’ve also thought about a RAID 5 with the 3 36GB drives and still keeping one for my OS. From what I have read, keeping your OS on a separate drive is the thing to do. Is there something I should be considering here? I have never worked/installed a RAID before. There are NO concerns on the box or PS. I took care of that on my first build. Any input is greatly appreciated! Please, no bashing (SCSI vs SATA) on how this upgrade is going. I have a game plan for starting out this way.
I'm also THINKING of getting another controller (my motherboard is an older one, but I still have two 64 bit slots) and running just a SCSI controller for the OS and the 10K drive and RAIDing the other 3 15K. I guess in doing that, I should have purchased a dual channel RAID card - but I wasn't thinking...

Thanks in advance

 

[Nodsu]

I assume your controllers are RAID-capable. Software RAID is not something you should trust your data with..

If your data is worth a lot to you then you should definently go for RAID 5. If you do RAID0 with two drives you double your chances of losing all data. With three drives you triple..

If you don't mind redoing the whole system then I would mirror the two old SCSI drives you have (if they are the same size of course) and use that array for the OS. Then the 3 36GB drives would be for important data and the huge 146GB one would be for expendable data and backups.

 

[CrimsnTide]

Thanks Nodsu for the reply. I wasn't planning on using the older drives. Even though they do run at 10K, the buffer(s) are at 4mb with a seek time higher than what I'm putting in. I just plan on doing the new drives this time around and then the other things down the road. I MAY add them in at another time or just pawn both of them off for a down payment on a newer drive.

I don't think the data being written to my RAID will be "valuable" if lost. My RAID controller is the LSI MegaRAID 320-1, which I've heard/read is decent. I'm just wondering now if a dual channel wouldn't suit my needs a little better...

I am starting from scratch here. This will be a NEW install for everything. I'm in the process of backing up just my data and image (CAD) files now... Again, never having set up a RAID before, I 'm wondering the best way to utilize these drives....