With the decreasing prices and increasing capacities of solid state drives (SSDs), using them in a RAID configuration has become an attractive option for both consumers and businesses to improve storage performance and redundancy. SSDs offer much faster read/write speeds compared to traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), making them ideal for applications that demand high throughput like gaming, media editing, and databases.
There are several factors to consider when deciding to create a RAID array with SSDs. The most common RAID levels used with SSDs are RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10. Choosing the appropriate RAID level will depend on your specific needs such as storage capacity, performance, and fault tolerance.
Quick Answers to Key Questions
What are the benefits of a RAID with SSDs?
Increased read/write performance, better redundancy, and ability to recover from drive failure are some key benefits of using SSDs in RAID.
What RAID levels work best for SSDs?
RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 are most commonly used with SSDs. RAID 0 offers performance, RAID 1 offers redundancy, RAID 5 offers a balance, while RAID 10 offers both performance and redundancy.
How many SSDs do you need for RAID?
At minimum, two SSDs are required for RAID 0, 1, and 10. RAID 5 requires a minimum of three SSDs, while RAID 6 requires four SSDs.
What kind of performance gain can you expect from RAID SSDs?
RAID 0 can double the read/write speed compared to a single SSD. RAID 5 and 10 offer more modest gains but provide redundancy. Gains depend on the RAID level, number and type of SSDs used.
Is RAID with SSDs expensive to set up?
Costs depend on the number and capacity of SSDs needed. But with declining SSD prices, RAID is more affordable than ever for improved performance and reliability.
Choosing SSDs for RAID
When selecting SSDs for a RAID array, you’ll want to consider factors like storage interface, capacity, and performance:
- Storage Interface – Most SSDs use SATA, NVMe or SAS interfaces. NVMe offers the fastest interface but requires NVMe support on motherboard.
- Capacity – Larger capacity SSDs are ideal for maximizing storage in the array. Match drives of equal capacity.
- Performance – Faster SSDs with higher bandwidth will provide better RAID performance. Match models/specs.
- Form Factor – 2.5″ SSDs are commonly used but M.2 NVMe SSDs are growing in popularity for RAID.
For the best results, match the SSD interface, capacity, specs, and form factor when assembling your RAID array.
Selecting a RAID Level
There are several standard RAID levels to choose from, each with their own advantages and disadvantages:
RAID 0
- Stripes data across drives for faster reads/writes.
- Pros: Excellent performance, utilizes full capacity.
- Cons: No fault tolerance. One drive failure results in total loss.
RAID 1
- Data is duplicated on mirrored drives for redundancy.
- Pros: Simple redundancy. Can sustain one drive failure.
- Cons: 50% storage efficiency as duplicates data.
RAID 5
- Stripes data and distributes parity for redundancy.
- Pros: Good performance, efficient storage, fault tolerant.
- Cons: Slower writes. Minimum 3 drives needed.
RAID 10
- Stripes and mirrors data for high performance and redundancy.
- Pros: Very high performance and full redundancy.
- Cons: 50% storage efficiency. Requires 4 drives minimum.
For most home/small office users, RAID 1 provides a good balance of redundancy while RAID 10 is best for peak performance. RAID 5 is popular for storage servers. Choose based on your budget, capacity, and performance needs.
Hardware and Software Considerations
There are additional hardware and software factors to consider when building your SSD RAID:
- RAID Controller – A dedicated hardware RAID controller is preferred for best performance and drive management. Many motherboards have integrated RAID support.
- Cables/Enclosures – Use high quality SATA/SAS cables and enclosures for reliable connections.
- RAID Software – Operating system or third party software is required to manage the RAID array.
- TRIM Support – Ensure OS/software supports TRIM to maintain SSD performance in RAID.
Using quality hardware and software designed for RAID is vital for maximum reliability and uptime. Consulting with a RAID specialist can help optimize compatibility and performance.
Steps to Create a RAID with SSDs
Follow these general steps to configure your SSDs in a RAID array:
- Select RAID level – Choose appropriate RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 based on your needs.
- Install SSDs – Mount SSDs into drive bays/enclosures connected to RAID controller.
- Enter RAID BIOS – Access RAID configuration utility in system BIOS or RAID card BIOS.
- Create array – Select SSDs and desired RAID level to create array.
- Confirm creation – Review settings then confirm to build the RAID array.
- Initialize disks – SSDs will show as one logical volume. Initialize the array disk.
- Manage/monitor – Use RAID software to monitor and manage the array.
Always refer to your RAID controller and SSD documentation for specific instructions to create and manage the RAID array properly. The process can vary across different hardware.
Example Steps for Software RAID 0 on Linux
Here is a more specific walkthrough to create a 2-drive RAID 0 array on a Linux system using mdadm:
- Install two matched SSDs and connect to SATA ports.
- Open terminal and enter sudo su to become root user.
- Use fdisk to create single Linux partition on each SSD.
- Get SSD device names (e.g. /dev/sda, /dev/sdb).
- Run mdadm –create /dev/md0 –level=0 –raid-devices=2 /dev/sda /dev/sdb to create /dev/md0 RAID 0 array using /dev/sda and /dev/sdb partitions.
- Enter cat /proc/mdstat to verify RAID 0 array is active.
- Use mkfs.ext4 /dev/md0 to format array with Ext4 filesystem.
- Mount array by adding /dev/md0 to /etc/fstab or mounting manually.
- Can monitor/manage array with mdadm commands.
This demonstrates how to utilize Linux’s mdadm utility to easily create a 2-drive RAID 0 array for better performance. The same general idea applies for creating other RAID levels as well.
Benchmarks of SSD RAID Performance
To give an idea of the performance benefits, here are some benchmarks from a study comparing different 2-drive SSD RAID configurations (via Custom PC Review):
| RAID Level | Sequential Reads | Sequential Writes |
|---|---|---|
| RAID 0 | 1015 MB/s | 1011 MB/s |
| RAID 1 | 528 MB/s | 509 MB/s |
| RAID 10 | 979 MB/s | 714 MB/s |
| Single SSD | 524 MB/s | 518 MB/s |
You can see that RAID 0 nearly doubles the sequential read/write speed versus a single SATA SSD, while still providing a boost in performance. RAID 1 takes a performance hit due to the mirroring overhead.
Real-World Performance Examples
Here are some real-world examples of the performance difference SSD RAID configurations can provide over a single SSD (via Tom’s Hardware):
| Test | Single SATA SSD | 2x RAID 0 SSDs | 4x RAID 10 SSDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Boot Time | 19.3 seconds | 14.1 seconds | 12.7 seconds |
| Game Load Time | 57.5 seconds | 29.2 seconds | 26.1 seconds |
| Adobe Premiere Export | 63.5 seconds | 35.1 seconds | 32.2 seconds |
For tasks like booting Windows, loading games, and media editing, RAID 0 and RAID 10 provide substantial improvements over a single SATA SSD. The performance gains can significantly improve workflow and productivity.
RAID SSD Use Cases
Here are some example use cases where using SSDs in RAID can benefit performance:
- Gaming Rigs – RAID 0 improves load times for games. RAID 1 or 10 adds redundancy against game file loss.
- Media Editing – RAID 0, 5, or 10 enables faster render times for video production.
- Network Servers – RAID 10 provides both speed and redundancy for critical data.
- Transactional Databases – RAID 10 boosts I/O performance for database applications.
- High Frequency Trading – Low latency RAID 0 improves trade execution time.
- Scientific Computing – Large RAID 0 arrays speed up research simulations.
Any application that demands faster disk access can benefit from the right SSD RAID configuration. And adding redundancy protects against data loss from drive failures.
Conclusion
By combining the performance of SSDs with the improved throughput and redundancy of RAID, you can realize significant speed benefits over a single drive for workloads that demand fast storage. Carefully consider your budget, capacity needs, and performance requirements when planning an SSD RAID setup. Matching your SSD models and using quality hardware is key as well.
RAID 0, 1 and 10 are good options for most home/business uses. Follow best practices when creating and managing the array. Properly implemented SSD RAID can provide your systems a very noticeable boost in responsiveness and productivity.