2010 MBP 15" - Dual OWC SSD RAID 0

[miata]

RAID 0 for boot and RAID 1 for data?

I'm looking at maxing out a 13" MBP 2.66 MHz 8 GB RAM with a pair of OWC 120 GB SSDs. I looking for a strategy that gives me the ultimate in performance and reliability. I had a HDD crash about 3 months back, so reliability is a major consideration. I use CCC to sync to a bootable disk every evening and also use Time Machine while I'm at home. So, my only exposure is losing data while at work or when traveling.

I'll be using Disk Tools to create the RAID configurations and I know I can create dual partitions on the SSDs. I'm thinking that I can put about 20 GB of each SSD into a "data partition" and the remainder into a "fast system partition." I can then configure the two data partitions into a RAID 1 disk and configure the other two partitions in to a RAID 0 partition. The idea is that I would keep all my critical work files on the RAID 1 disk.

Does this strategy make sense? What would be the pros/cons of alternatives?

 

[perfectshadows]

I am thinking of doing a raid 0 o my machine:

Spec in sig using 2x OCZ vertex2 240GB is it as simple as
opti-bay conversion, 2x drives and use disc utilites to do raid 0 or do I need something else or to do someting else?

 

[miata]

I am thinking of doing a raid 0 o my machine:

Spec in sig using 2x OCZ vertex2 240GB is it as simple as
opti-bay conversion, 2x drives and use disc utilites to do raid 0 or do I need something else or to do someting else?

That should do it -- unless you want to convert your internal SuperDrive to an external unit.

 

[milan03]

Have you tried AJA System Test? It's a bit more accurate than quickbench.

Here is what I get with OWC 240GB vs 512 Apple SSD both in my MBP.

 

[walshlink]

I'm curious to know why you think it is more accurate than Quickbench?

Try DiskTester...good stuff!

[URL="Diglloydtools"]Diglloydtools[/URL]

Have you tried AJA System Test? It's a bit more accurate than quickbench.

Here is what I get with OWC 240GB vs 512 Apple SSD both in my MBP.

 

[mattb79]

6 month update:

No troubles. Still flies along at the original speeds. Only downside is that it makes using non-SSD (or even single SSD) computers a tedious task. I replaced my MBP 13" with a MBA 11", which I'm really happy with as an ultraportable, but it doesn't hold a candle to the dual SSD setup in the MBP 15".

My next project will probably be a 4 x SSD RAID 0 in a Mac Pro, but I'm holding out for the switch to SATA III in this year's refresh. There's a few new SATA III SSDs coming out at the moment, so I'll probably use one of them unless OWC produces a SATA III Mercury Pro SSD.

Interestingly, the 2011 MBP's use SATA III for the HDD, bur the SuperDrive uses SATA II. Not sure what impact this will have on people wanting to do a dual SSD RAID 0 using the SuperDrive space in the newer models.

I think after my Mac Pro project, I'll probably be at the point where pursuing faster speeds would just be to see the higher numbers. In real world use, with high power programs already responding flawlessly and programs opening instantly, you can't really expect or want more.