Comparative analysis of PCI-E SSD, SSD and HDD

Thursday, 28 May 2015 00:00

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Comparative analysis of PCI-E SSD, SSD and HDD

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Increasing performance of disk subsystem is the most pressing issue of today. The reason for this is that HDD, considering its low price, still occupy the leading positions in mass segment. Spindle disks become the bottleneck in more than half of resource-intensive applications. In this case everything depends not on SATA throughput interface, but on the physical capabilities of mechanical parts of magnetic disk. Throughput of SATA-II and SATA-III interfaces is 300 MByte/s and 600 MByte/s respectively. Maximum performance that can be provided by an ordinary HDD does not exceed 150 Mbyte/s. That is why shifting to SATA-III interface is reasonable only for SSD, through not for all.

To assess the efficacy of disk subsystems of different types, we selected the following solutions for testing:

1. OCZ RevoDrive X2 PCI-E SSD 100Gb

2. Plextor PX-128M2S SSD 128Gb

3. Transcend TS64GSSD25S-M SSD 64Gb

4. 4 x Transcend TS64GSSD25S-M RAID-0

5. WD Caviar Green SATA-II HDD 750Gb

6. 4 x WD RE4 1TB 7200RPM RAID-0

Below you will find charts reflecting the performance of solutions in different testing modes:

Sequential

Random, 512KB

Random, 4KB, Queue Depth=1

Random, 4KB, Queue Depth=32

Access time

Windows System Performance Rating

A series of conclusions can be made based on the tests results:

It is apparent that the weak spot of spindle disks is a random read/write of small data blocks

Not less apparent is the SSD is not as good in write as in read: For example, RevoDrive did not reach 690 Mbyte/s of write speed as declared by the manufacturer. Moreover, it has RAID-0 built out of 4 SSD
If you need sequential record of large data blocks, then most effective solution is RAID-0 with 4 HDD 7200RPM
For fast reading SSD or RAID built of SSD is the best. Operating system installed on OCZ RevoDrive X2 boots in in a matter of seconds. Of course, its top speed reaches 800 Mbyte per second
Plextor PX-128M2S, connected via SATA-III, displayed considerably higher results than via SATA-II. This is the case when interface could be a bottleneck
For maximum efficacy of disk subsystem it would be the best to make it combined. Allocate disks of certain type for specific tasks and organize RAID based on performance requirements and resilience

Last modified on Thursday, 28 May 2015 14:12

Data Recovery Expert

Viktor S., Ph.D. (Electrical/Computer Engineering), was hired by DataRecoup, the international data recovery corporation, in 2012. Promoted to Engineering Senior Manager in 2010 and then to his current position, as C.I.O. of DataRecoup, in 2014. Responsible for the management of critical, high-priority RAID data recovery cases and the application of his expert, comprehensive knowledge in database data retrieval. He is also responsible for planning and implementing SEO/SEM and other internet-based marketing strategies. Currently, Viktor S., Ph.D., is focusing on the further development and expansion of DataRecoup’s major internet marketing campaign for their already successful proprietary software application “Data Recovery for Windows” (an application which he developed).

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