Hey guys,
I was just wondering is there any good reason for people to go for one 512GB SSD over two 256GB SSDs in Raid 0? I know large SSDs generally have a better IOPS but any other reasons to go for one large drive?
Personally, I'd be paranoid about drive failures. Even though SSDs have caught up loads.....there's still that nagging doubt :P Also, it might be cheaper.
Looking at the Intel 520 Series specifically, you pay £101 for a 120GB drive, and £220 for a 240GB drive, saving £20 if going for the RAID option. It's all preference, if you care and/or back up your data, and I have 2x Samsung 840Pro's in RAID0, I cannot really tell any performance difference from when I had only 1.
unless your linus, and have a bottleneck in ssd write speeds, it's not worth it. you run alot more risk of failure, not just because you have more drives, but also because your relying on the RAID controller as well.
CONS
- TRIM only works on the newest Intel i7. Okay, Z68 and P67 motherboards can as well, but it requires some mods. And, AMD might, I have no idea...
- If you're running Windows 8 and using a dedicated RIAD controller, you might not be able to use the Windows Boot tools. Why? It doesn't let you install drivers before it looks for a Windows installation. So, no repair, recovery, or refresh tools at boot. Generic drivers, like the ones on motherboards (including Intel), will work fine.
NOTE
- I'll assume you maintaine backups, whether on a RAID-0 SSD or a RAID-1 server grade HDD. If not, then this is all for not.
- If doubling the SSD failure rate is a worry, just complete the formula from Wikipedia. 2*x doesn't mean anything until you know what x is.
I think 2 smaller SSDs are often cheaper than a larger one. That tickles the cheap tooth.
I like it.