RAID Update - 3ware 9650SE

Well I have had a decently busy playing with the RAID controller that arrived on Monday.

I indeed have run some IO meter tests with 1, 4, 16, 32, 64, 128, and 256 outstanding I/O per second (IOs/IOps). I stayed with the 128k stripe for the ICH9R southbridges 'software' Intel Matrix RAID. For the 3ware 9650SE-2LP, I have tried 2 different stripe size (64k and 256k). I am somewhat disappointed with the lack of stripe size choices (only 16k, 64k, and 256k were available - WTF).

As expected, the ICH9R edges 3ware's 9650SE in HD Tune.

Here are 9650SE results for the 3ware 9650SE-2LP:

64kb Stripe

256k stripe

CPU usage is already lower for the two Hardware RAID results. Also, it would be worth noting that performance on the hardware RAID controller is a lot more consistent whereas the RAID via Intel's ICH9R tapers off.

I will be working on the various results for IOmeter. I can however say this, on high load (256 IOs), the software RAID controller (ICH9R) chewed up ~60% CPU utilization for one of the tests consistently (repeated). That is simply unacceptable under those conditions for any PC user. The RAID controller really shines in that aspect. By comparison, mundane apps like the built in calculator takes up way more than 1 IO (to give perspective on what kinda 'load' 1 IO is). Also, I snuck in a game test (loading a Crysis save file) and the RAID controller loaded it up nearly 2 seconds faster... :o

Stay tuned for graphs as I compile the data from 168 spreadsheets (automated results spit out by IOmeter).

yay....

Proposed/Revised Testing Methodology

This is really the first time that I am testing a Hard Drive / Controller. Before that it was just a simple run of HD Tach (which doesn't work in Vista - I have a BSOD to prove it too LOL) to see my godly RAID 0 speeds. My forte still probably remains in CPU/GPU/Cooling though.

In the process of researching what type of controller would be ideal for me, I have significantly read up a LOT on the intricacies of the workings of storage.

Initially, I set out to run some simple tests (low level tests using Winbench99, HD Tune, and a tad fancier IOmeter - of which I have never used).

Though I had to ditch some things (again, in the previous post), I think it is time to revise my methodology. Primarily this has to do with the (to me) uncharted domains of IOmeter.

I initially set to test out some results using both Sequential and Random Read and Writes (take a minute to digest - public service announcement) of two Transfer sizes which are 4KB and 512KB sizes. This is mainly to find some congruence with the currently established TechARP testing methodology (if I can have a better understanding and conjure a more 'thorough' test - I will - still a WIP) but at the same time, I threw in a different mix. I chose to use two levels by manipulating the number of Outstanding I/Os. Low level benchmarks (such as HD Tune and HD Tach) utilize a single I/O request and that doesn't really show all too much load. So I decided to run two versions of the test. One with 1 outstanding I/O and the second with the max number of outstanding I/O per second - 256 (which simulates a heavy load situation - the 3ware hardware RAID controller should shine very well in this regard).

Some explanations of the jargon (mumbo jumbo):
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200003/20000313OSandBM_5.html

So as is, I will run some tiers tomorrow (hopefully my younger brother will forgive me as I totally dominate his PC again for the better part of the day).

Tentitively, the tiers are as below (# of Outstanding I/Os):
1 -done?
4
16
32
64
128
256 - done?

I will double check my results tomorrow as well as test various things (if the length of testing has a difference or not).

Now if there are any of my audience out there (imaginary or otherwise) who would like to chime in, I am all ears/eyes. :)

Teh FAIL

Yeah...

So I went downstairs to test RAID on a ICH10R southbridge on a P45 mobo (my dad's PC). And guess what? Mobo doesn't have RAID. Teh funnies.

So lets see what I have

Hardware to test:
ICH9R
ICH10R
9650SE-2LP (ETA: Monday the 15th of December)

Tests to run:
Winbench99
HD Tune
IOmeter (results are there just figuring out which to use)

Yup.

Looks about right...

Western Digital RE3 in RAID 0 via ICHR9 Southbridge

If you've read my previous post, you'll know that my POS mobo's ICH9R southbridge refuses to play nice with SATA II drives in ACHI or RAID.

My younger brother happens to have the same chipset on his mobo (P35 + ICH9R) and guess what? RAID 0 WORKS! God damn ASUS.

Well, I took the chance to capitalize and run some benchmarks (to set as a baseline). I ran HD Tune and IOmeter (as Winbench 99 won't run on x64 environments - all is forgiven since it is almost 10 years old!).

Now I am still playing around with the IOmeter results (difference between a linear single outstanding I/Os vs a heavy load of 256 outstanding I/Os.) but here is the result from HD Tune.

RAID 0 with a 128k stripe size.


Mmm.... Tomorrow I will take it for a spin on the ICH10R southbridge (courtesy of my Dad's P45 mobo) and put that through the wringer.

Also once I figure out the IOmeter results, I will make some purdy graphs (and also it will probably lead to a full fledged article/review on TechARP).

Stay tuned!

MIA, Gaming, RAID, and WTF ASUS....

Yeah I know. I've been missing for quite a while.

Truth be told, I blame the games. :p


Other than that, I am getting a lot more guitar play time (as I nurse my re-emergent thumb injury - timing I know!).

Other than that, my PC is finally getting some loving in the sense of new hardware. I have long wanted to replace my somewhat old Raptor X (and its 10,000 RPM SATA 150 fury). Main reason being that I am simply running out of space (it has 150GB unformatted). The obvious solution would be to simply get a 300GB VelociRaptor. Truth be told, I almost jumped on it thanks to Newegg's smashing deal (with the VR being priced at 220USD plus a nice Mail-In-Rebate to sweeten it some more).

But I posed a question. SSDs are fast maturing and with the capacity increasing and the price per Gigabyte steadily dropping (as well as the Godly performance of Intel's SSDs that they are championing and pushing heavily), would spending that much on a VR be worth it in say 6-12 months? My long standing position on SSDs is that I would migrate to them once Cost/GB matched that of a VR and that time may come pretty soon.

So as such, I decided to look for cheaper alternatives. I started looking around the various offerings and I pretty much decided on a WD Caviar Black or a Samsung SpinPoint F1 series drive. I didn't really need too big of a size (2TB+ on the Server) and they are pretty much the best at 7200 rpm consumer drives.

Or were they?

I decided to expand it a bit and wanted to see what viable RAID options are there out there? Specifically, RAID 0. I am not worried about redundancy as I have WHS to save me in my time of need (backups are done daily and the last 3 day, week, and month interval are kept on the server). I just want raw performance. So I tried looking at the WD Caviar Black and SpinPoint F1s in RAID 0. From there, I found my gem. The Western Digital RE3 SATA 3Gbs Enterprise drives. RE stands for 'RAID Edition' and this is WD's third iteration for this series of Enterprise class drives (thats server/workstation usage for you normal people). Simply put, the RE3s are basically Caviar Blacks (and their dual processor goodness) that have been extra tested for reliability (warrantied for 5 years at 100 duty cycle - aka full load for 5 years) and has been given some optimizations. Optimizations you say? What optimizations? Well, since they are RAID Edition drives, they have been optimized for Mult-Disk usage (aka RAID Arrays!). And my do they fly...

So coolness. I got them (well more like asked for them) for my B-Day (T-minus 10 days as of writing). When they arrived, I was so excited, I tore out my drive cage, dumped the Raptor X (though never wiped it - you never know!) and installed my new two RAID gems. Made some necessary changes in the BIOS and started up the Intel Matrix RAID screen to build my RAID 0 Array. Then when I tried to install Windows Vista x64 (was waiting for new hard drives), I started getting RAID errors and BSODs. WTF? Apparently, my lovely motherboard has a well known issue when it comes to SATA II drives when used in AHCI or RAID. Asus support was abysmal as always (wanted me to do an RMA but even I know the revisions do nothing and I have tried everything already). So here I am, 2 B-Day present RAID hard drives that won't run RAID (can't tell which is worse - a b-day present you can't use or hardware that you can't use).

Just great. WTF ASUS! SERIOUSLY! Strike two for this mobo (it has already murdered 6 sets of 2x1GB OCZ Reaper PC 1066 ram previously). Good thing I haven't nuked the contents on the Raptor X.

The only choices I have at this point is 1) Buy a new mobo or 2) Buy a RAID Controller card. Door numero uno is a no no (puns puns) as I know full well that I will be upgrading to Core i7 in a few months (or finding employment - whichever comes first - yeah still jobless - pewpy economy). So a RAID controller looked a lot nicer and I went with it. I made it a point, if I was going to get a RAID solution (and spend money), I might as well get a 'true' Hardware RAID Controller.

Why a Hardware RAID? The ones that are included on the motherboard (usually via the Southbridge chip) are not 'true' hardware RAID. Why? Well they utilize the system's CPU cycles and use the system's RAM. Hardware RAID will have its own dedicated CPU and cache to minimize the dependency from the host system's resources. Therefore, there is usually a difference in performance with Hardware Controllers. Also they aren't reliant on software on getting stuff done (software gets corrupted, hardware doesn't - they just break haha). Also system migration will be a lot easier. I won't have to do a full reformat (at least in theory) when I migrate to Core i7 as the HDDs are on an isolated system. Probably just need to reinstall drivers and everything will be dandy. The fact that the drives are on an isolated system has quite a few benefits. Any instability (*cough* Overclocking *cough*) from my system will have a reduced chance of corrupting my hard drives, any system slow downs won't impact the drives, etc. I will fully explore these as time goes by.

So what did I get?

Meet the 3ware 9650SE-2LP. It has a 500MHz PowerPC processor and 128mb DDR2 ECC RAM on board and uses a PCI Express x1 connection (way more than enough for 2 drives). I didn't really see the need to get more than 2 ports as I just need some RAID 0 action and I don't need huge amounts of space (or else the storage I will need on my WHS will increase as well... :| ). Once I get the bad boy, I will slap it on and get my Array and Vista x64 installed. It will be fun to play and experiment.

Rest assured, I will update on this on Monday as that is when my RAID controller arrives. Fully expect some benchmarking (HD Tune, Winbench, IOmeter) between my Raptor X and the 9650SE-2LP + WD RE3 combo to see just how much 'objective' performance I will be able to squeeze out of this.

Stay tuned my gracious readers (if you guys exist that is). You may now collect the melted brain that has been undoubtedly oozing out of your ears in the due course of this blog post.

PS: Looking back at this post, I think it's safe to say I made up for some lost time huh? :p Typed non-stop in one sitting (didn't really take too long - my 80wpm typing FTW!).

Patch Tuesday December 2008

Get it all you people who need it! :)

I had to restart my PC after the update so just a little heads up.