Migrating Data Unto a RAID 10

Buy an external, do your transfer and return it if you have to. Or borrow one from a friend. Trying to get around it won't work. You should have a backup anyway, even if you use a protected raid. Get a 2TB external and use it for TM.

 

JesterJJZ is right.

You're going to have to have access to a separate drive to serve as a backup location. There's no way around this, as the initialization process will wipe any drives included in the arrays (10 = pair of mirrors are created, then those are striped together, hence 1 + 0, which is written as 10 for convenience).

As you're going to be limited for internal space, it might be best to go external with it. If you need more than 2TB (single drive), then go with an eSATA and a Port Multiplier enclosure.

I'll also presume with this question, you're planning on skipping a proper RAID card (as discussed in other threads)?

 

You could grab another 1TB fast drive and a 2TB green drive and then just do RAID 0 on the three fast drives and use the 2TB for TM... it would probably not cost you much more money than 2 1TB fast drives and you wouldn't need another external. Then later, if you needed more internal space, just get another 1TB for the RAID 0 and stick the 2TB into a cheap external enclosure... just throwing out suggestions.

 

True, you'd only be able to back-up 2 of 3 TB, but I'm assuming you're not going to completely fill all 3TB for a little while at least... so until you start using over 2TB of the RAID for non-system/non-backed-up data, the 2TB should suffice... but yeah, if you think you're going to use more than 2TB right away, that config is a bad idea.

Essentially, the idea would be to use the 2TB until you outgrow that for backup, then you could get another 2TB green drive and another 1TB internal drive and make a 4TB JBOD external backup and add the other 1TB into your internal RAID 0 for a 4TB RAID0, then you're golden with big and size-matched working and backup arrays...

again, just suggesting what I'd do in that situation

 

What exactly do you need as far as:

• Port count, and if it needs to be internal/external

• System model (i.e. '09's would require an adapter if you want to use the HDD bays, which will add $165USD to the cost; if it's an '08 or earlier, then you may need an extension cable to get the iPass cable <aka MiniSAS = SFF-8087> to the RAID card, which is $90USD). Both adapters are from the same place, and they're the only supplier.

• RAID levels desired for the card (not just what you want to start with, but possibly use in the near future)

• Boot capability (i.e do you want OS X to be booted from an array/drive on the card)

• Throughput requirements (limited with 4x drives, but it can give me an idea of what you need, especially with future expansion)

In general, I'll say go with a model made by Areca. ARC-1212, ARC-1210 (uses SATA ports), or in a pinch, the Highpoint RR4310. All three are EFI bootable (OS X) and can also boot in a BIOS environment (but can only have one or the other, as no card can contain both). They're also 4 port cards.

If you need more ports, I can help you there as well. But I do need details, as there's more than just port counts in the differences. Processor speeds and cache capacities (some can even allow you to expand it via a DIMM socket) for example.

Yes.

A stripe set allows you to retain all the available capacity, but you don't have any redundancy. Either way, no matter what you do, you must run a proper backup (and I do give you credit for getting a drive up for TM).

And as antmo indicated, if you don't need speed, Green Power drives are a good way to gain additional capacity for the lowest cost. This makes them excellent drives for backup. They can be used as primaries as well, but as they're slower, have limits (some can be gotten around by using more of them, but not always; again, it depends on the specifics).

I'm a tad lost here, as I don't know what you have, or are trying to achieve exactly. So if you could give some specifics (system in hand, including drives,... and what you're doing with it), it would help immensely.

 

OK. The '08's are easier to deal with when it comes to RAID, especially if it's via a 3rd party card using the HDD bays.

Ideally, it sounds as if you could really benefit from SSD for an OS/application drive (or even an array), and use RAID for storage. But given your capacity needs for the libraries and limited budget, it's not yet feasible.

So the least expensive route is to go with a stripe set (RAID 0), and make absolutely certain you've a backup system in place (schedule backups in the software, as it's easy to forget to do them manually).

I still don't know what your budget or throughput requirements are, but given a single SSD is capable of ~220 - 250MB/s reads, I'll use that as a target.

So a 3x drive stripe set would be able to do this (sustained, not random access, which is what Logic would really benefit from, but it's still better than a single drive). That leaves you a single HDD bay for a backup drive, say a 2TB WD Green Power.

Hopefully, we'll get you dialed in as best as possible for your budget. Just keep in mind, random access though improves with a stripe set, is still no where near what an SSD can do.

You might be able to get the OS and Logic on a single SSD, and use a stripe set to hold both working data and the libraries. You need to think about this, and let me know if it's a possiblility.

Remember, a stripe set can produce n*single drive throughput = array throughput (i.e. 100MB/s for a single mechanical drive * 3x disks = 300MB/s).

 

Either approach will work (I've not seen a review on the X25-V (40GB) yet, so I've no idea how good/bad they are compared to the X25-M).

Theoretically, yes, the former (2x 40GB drives) would be a better way to go, but as I mentioned, I haven't spotted a reveiw yet (only seen product announcements so far, but it's been a bit since I looked; curious about real throughputs, TRIM,...). If you find something on them, please post a link.

Either way (single or array), I'd put the SSD/s in the ODD bay. The ODD_SATA ports will work for OS X, but not Windows (just to let you know).

 

Thanks. I was hoping for more, but that's OK (TRIM results,...).

The write speeds do suck, but if they're used primarily for reads, it won't be much of an issue (2x in a stripe set would be ~90MB/s or so, which isn't awful; comparable to a decent mechanical drive).

If you're willing to live with the 80GB and add one in later, then that might not be a bad idea.

As per Windows, once you set up a RAID array, you won't be able to boot Windows properly (not possible via BC - ever, nor as a separate drive as it does something in the firmware that prevents the single drive from functioning properly). So this would almost certainly affect the VM method as well.

You can get around it, by using a SATA controller, and I've located a really cheap one (here). Attach a drive to that, and it gets the drive off of the ICH (Southbridge), where the system's SATA settings won't affect the drive. So there is an easy, and inexpensive solution to the problem (card is only 2 ports, but you can configure them as you wish; 2 + 0, 0 + 2, or 1 + 1 internal/external respectively).

 

It's definitely interesting, and there's other possibilities as well (allows you to stuff 4x 3.5" drives in both optical bays; 2x per). Bit pricey though.

Don't touch it. It's a FakeRAID controller, and I've had problems with such devices in the past.

You can still get more ports than that, and mount elsewhere, such as the optical bays or externally. Once the drives have a home (physically), it's just a matter of cabling (including power).

Only if it's striped (or any other array setup under Disk Utility).

 

No, this won't work. Fusion has a problem with OS X's software RAID. The OS needs to remain on a single drive (SSD or HDD). If you have this and an array via OS X (Disk Utility), then the Windows drive needs to be on a SATA card.

Disk Utility seems to modifiy the system's firmware, which prevents Windows from loading. This happens even when you try to natively boot into Windows.

You can try it if you wish, but I'd be surprised if you can get it to work (unless there's been an update to Fusion that allows it to work). Otherwise, the issue described not only makes logical sense. Part of it is also that I recall someone posting on this (OS X software RAID = Fail with VM of Windows).

For it to work, the OS must be on a single drive or an array run off a proper RAID card (keeps Disk Utility from making a change to the SATA controller settings in the firmware).

 

It would still cause a failure, as the array is controlled by OS X (Disk Utility). Apparently, it's making a change in the firmware, and affects the ability to load Windows.

Single drive operation is fine (and it means for every drive attached to the logic board).

It wouldn't really matter. Capacity would be an issue if it worked, but I seriously doubt it will.

The best thing to do, is contact the maker of Fusion, and ask about running it with OS X's RAID functions under Disk Utility. Hopefully, they may have found a work-around.

I think it would be fine, but I've never used this software (appears to be emulation, as there's no need for a Windows license or installation).