Hardware/System
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300
- 16GB memory
- Windows 7 Ultimate x64
- Intel(R) Chipset
Tests & Results
RAID-0 with 2 drives performance
RAID-0 with 4 drives performance
RAID-1 (2 drives) performance
RAID-5 (3 drives) performance
RAID-5 (4 drives) performance
RAID-10 (4 drives) performance
Time access tests
Single Drive Performance - Access Time
RAID 0 (2 drives) - Access Time
RAID 0 (4 drives) - Access Time
RAID 5 (3 drives) - Access Time
RAID 5 (4 drives) - Access Time
RAID 10 (4 drives) - Access Time
RAID 0: Performance comparison based on the number of drives in array
Linear Read (begin) Single/RAID-0 diff
Linear Read (middle) Single/RAID-0 diff
Linear Read (end) Single/RAID-0 diff
Random Read Single/RAID-0 diff
Buffered Read Single/RAID-0 diff
RAID 5: Performance comparison based on the number of drives in array
Linear Read (begin) Single/RAID-5 diff
Linear Read (middle) Single/RAID-5 diff
Linear Read (end) Single/RAID-5 diff
Buffered Read Single/RAID-5 diff
Conclusions
If you need highest speed and total volume size your best choise is RAID0 of 4 drives.
If you want a compromise between speed and reliability - RAID5 3 drives, 3 of 4 disks looks better performance with 3 disks in the array.
Also keep in mind that I did not conduct tests of records and do not assume that the increase in recording speed is proportional to the increase in reading speed. For example, in RAID5 mode when writing large amounts of data to an array, all drives in the array are simultaneously recorded data and checksums.
If you need help with raid data recovery please visit http://www.InfoRecovery.com/raid-data-recovery/
You can also visit site of one of our offices (for example: RAID data recovery in Cleveland)
Advantages and disadvantages of certain modes of hard drives:
Single drive
"+" Cost
"-" Small size
"-" Slow speed
"-" Low Reliability
"+" Reliability
"-" Cost
"-" Small size
"-" Slow speed
RAID-0 with 2 drives
"+" nearly 2x speed vs Single Drive
"+" 2x size
"-" Low Reliability
"-" Cost
RAID-0 with 4 drives
"+" nearly 4x speed vs Single Drive
"+" 4x size
"-" Low Reliability
"-" Cost
RAID-5 / 3 drives
"+" High Reliability
"+" speed is higher then RAID-0 with 2 drives
"-" Cost
RAID-5 / 4 drives
"+" High Reliability
"+" size is 30% higher vs RAID-0 (2 drives) with same speed
"-" Cost
