Can I set RAID 5 on ICH6R or SI3114 ?
Hello experts !
I want to setup RAID 5 in GA-8AENXP - it has ICH6R (4 SATA) and SI3114 (4 SATA). I use XP Pro (Windows 2003 Server is NOT usable to me due to it high price :) ) Can I do it ? If yes - what chipset is better ICH6R or SI3114 ?And last - can I boot Windows from this RAID 5 array ?
I want to setup RAID 5 in GA-8AENXP - it has ICH6R (4 SATA) and SI3114 (4 SATA). I use XP Pro (Windows 2003 Server is NOT usable to me due to it high price :) ) Can I do it ? If yes - what chipset is better ICH6R or SI3114 ?And last - can I boot Windows from this RAID 5 array ?
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No.
Also, even if it worked, software raid is not advisable, particulatrly not on the system partition. Before being able to load the array, you'd have to be able to access it, so you can boot from it, but because windows isn't yet loaded, there is no OS there which can read the array. Software raid would also be draining your CPU power too much, lowering your speed.
A hardware raid solution is allways better, and today's SATA Raid controllers come pretty cheap.
Also, even if it worked, software raid is not advisable, particulatrly not on the system partition. Before being able to load the array, you'd have to be able to access it, so you can boot from it, but because windows isn't yet loaded, there is no OS there which can read the array. Software raid would also be draining your CPU power too much, lowering your speed.
A hardware raid solution is allways better, and today's SATA Raid controllers come pretty cheap.
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Hello rindi
Since it takes some days and I think that I will NOT get other answers I search more. I think you may learn somethink new :)
ICHR7R has RAID 5 support, but ICH6R do NOT :(
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=r52005&page=6
It's looks that SI3114 can do it
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=r52005&page=6
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=r52005&page=7
About perfomance - it shows reading are BEST while WRITEING is slowes 5-15 MB/s :)
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=r52005&page=9
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=r52005&page=10
Since it takes some days and I think that I will NOT get other answers I search more. I think you may learn somethink new :)
ICHR7R has RAID 5 support, but ICH6R do NOT :(
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=r52005&page=6
It's looks that SI3114 can do it
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=r52005&page=6
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=r52005&page=7
About perfomance - it shows reading are BEST while WRITEING is slowes 5-15 MB/s :)
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=r52005&page=9
http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=r52005&page=10
If you can upgrade the mainboard's Sil firmware to support raid 5, then that would be OK. The driver alone won't help, you'd need both. This would still be some kind of hardware raid, although onboard raid needs some CPU and RAM support from the mainboard, you'd configure the array using the firmware setup tool, which is similar to the normal BIOS of PC's.
Performance of raid 5 is normal like that, the more disks you have in an array the faster you can read, but writes are allways similar or slower than a single disk. For both, fast reads and writes, you'd need raid 0+1.
Performance of raid 5 is normal like that, the more disks you have in an array the faster you can read, but writes are allways similar or slower than a single disk. For both, fast reads and writes, you'd need raid 0+1.
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I am prety sure that SI do NOT has hardware RAID 5, but it has software. As you know MS server OS also has software RAID 5, but price of MS server sustem is too high for me :)
So actyaly this drivers provided by SI make sofwtare RAID 5 but using WinXP PRO ! I suppose that perfomance is same as in Windows 2003 server :) and that is wath I need :) Since my server is powerful P4 3.6 GHz and it make almost ONLY file server I do NOT care that it will load CPU to 40-50 %
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Silicon Image does not try to hide the fact that the 3114's RAID-5 abilities are software driven, as you need to install a special driver to enable the chip's RAID-5 abilities. The driver installs the 3114 as a SCSI controller with the name of "Silicon Image Sil 3114 SoftRaid 5 Controller". As you can see below, their latest driver is indeed WHQL certified.
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So actyaly this drivers provided by SI make sofwtare RAID 5 but using WinXP PRO ! I suppose that perfomance is same as in Windows 2003 server :) and that is wath I need :) Since my server is powerful P4 3.6 GHz and it make almost ONLY file server I do NOT care that it will load CPU to 40-50 %
*********
Silicon Image does not try to hide the fact that the 3114's RAID-5 abilities are software driven, as you need to install a special driver to enable the chip's RAID-5 abilities. The driver installs the 3114 as a SCSI controller with the name of "Silicon Image Sil 3114 SoftRaid 5 Controller". As you can see below, their latest driver is indeed WHQL certified.
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Actually I search for somethink like plug-ins to Win XP Pro (provided from RAID manufacture) that will allow to me to set RAID 5. I know about hack of Win XP Pro (modify dmadmin.exe, dmboot.sys and dmconfig.dll) but this is NOT legal.
So – is Silicon or Intel provide software RAID 5 based in ICH6R or SI3114 ?