Researching Intel VROC RAID

[Doug Ritter]

So, I am looking at upgrading my 4-year-old desktop computer. Box and many of the parts are fine, looking at a faster processor, RAM and upgrade to SSDs. One of my IT guys has suggested that we go with 4 x NVMe SSDs on the new motherboard and using Intel VROC RAID to gain RAID 10. Quick look around suggests that the VROC thing is relatively new bleeding edge tech. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us...d-storage.html Anyone have some experience or thoughts on this?

His suggestions for new parts was:

Gigabyte X299 AORUS Gaming 9 Motherboard
Intel Core I7-7820X
DDR4 Memory 32 GB
4 x Samsung 960 Pro M.2 1 TB SSD Drives (2 TB at Raid 10)
VROC Raid Key for Intel Onboard RAID
Option to add a 5^th SSD w/ NVMe card)

[Russell Holton]

RAID on SSD is something new to me. But it makes sense that you'd need a new technology to efficiently RAID SSDs together. Given the higher performance of SDD, I'd wonder if it's not reaching a point of diminishing returns.

[Doug Ritter]

RAID on SSD is something new to me. But it makes sense that you'd need a new technology to efficiently RAID SSDs together. Given the higher performance of SDD, I'd wonder if it's not reaching a point of diminishing returns.

Well, the point of RAID is to provide robustness. I have lost drives and been able to continue to function until a drive was replaced. That's the value in RAID 10 for me. The alternative appears to be a new RAID Controller Card and using 2.5" SSDs. The difference in performance is relatively negligible, compared to what I have now, both are going to be light years faster, the 2.5" drives are slightly cheaper, but have to get a new card. Clearly the NVMe SSDs are the way tech is going,but RAIDing them may be too bleeding edge, which I what I am trying to figure out.

[Bill Bridges]

Well, the point of RAID is to provide robustness.

Doug,

You might gives these guys a call. They built my current gaming machine and I've been very happy with the machine and service. Ask for Ken McElheran, he's the main computer guy and who I worked with. The only real change I made was going with Intel SSDs.

[John O'Shaughnessy [FCM]]

So, I am looking at upgrading my 4-year-old desktop computer.

Doug,

What are your needs out of this computer? I'd think that setup is a bit bleeding edge. Hopefully, you have multiple, automated backups, including at least one off-site backup.

If it were me, I'd make sure enough money is set aside for a very good 4K monitor (or better) and a video card that can drive it smoothly. But again, it comes down to your use-case. If you are working on Excel spreadsheets, using PowerPoint, creating Word documents, surfing the web and watching YouTube -- you could get by with much lower specs.

[Doug Ritter]

John,

Thanks. My current dual 27" monitors and video card are quite adequate to date for the PhotoPaint/PhotoShop/Illustator, video and basic CAD stuff I do, which is what pushes things in that respect. At this point, nothing I do requires 4K. If I really had money to brun I might get even larger monitors for more workspace. I do a lot of MS Office programs, primarily Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and often have 20-30 windows open in multiple programs.

We do have a 4TB local backup that includes a regular full back-up, plus a cloud backup that we are in the process of reviewing and possibly moving to another vendor, but there's always at least 2 full backups (staggered), plus daily incrementals. Plus my laptop has most of the critical data files on it as well and those get updated on a schedule, even if I am not traveling, but always get updated before I leave for a trip. RAID 10 helps provide additional robustness.

Thing that drives me nuts is waiting. And, I seem to be waiting more than I like. My laptop has a marginally faster processor and SSD (its a year newer), so I know what advantage those bring to the party and I notice it.

What I am trying to figure out is if I'm better off taking a step back from bleeding edge, SSD on Motherboard with RAID thing. If this was another year in, that stuff probably won't be nearly bleeding edge. But, this is now. So...

[Terry Carraway]

The thing I would watch with bleeding edge RAID is what happens if the RAID controller barfs?

I have a NAS with RAID, that one day, decided the drives were no longer in a RAID array. So, to the box, they were virgin drives. Manufacturer says, Oh well, too bad. $3K per drive to recover the data. Or just reformat and start over.

REALLY?????

That said, my current machine (not new at all) has been running a RAID 1+0 setup with traditional drives for many years.

[Doug Ritter]

The thing I would watch with bleeding edge RAID is what happens if the RAID controller barfs?

That's an issue with both software and hardware RAID. Not sure which is better, but hardware also includes memory so cache isn't lost if there's a crash, theoretically, as I understand it. The new Intel VROC RAID is a hybrid. But, it is pretty damn new and that always worries me, which was the point of this thread.

I had a drive disappear from the software RAID array a while back. Figured it died and needed replacing and ordered a replacement. Which, BTW, finding a 3-year-old identical drive was a minor challenge. Another potential minefield with RAID as the computer ages. Before installation my IT guy ran a RAID rebuild and the drive came back. Something hiccuped. But, the good news is with RAID 10 (or RAID 1+0) and four drives I was still in business even with the "failed" drive. One reason we are considering adding a 5th and maybe 6th drive to the RAID with the new re-build. Down time kills me. Crap always happens at the worst possible time (Murphy), so any redundancy I can build in is an "insurance" investment in avoiding that. Adding the "spare" drive(s) also provides insurance of being able to continue with a full RAID 10 even with a failure and if identical replacement down the road for a failed drive is taken out of the equation. <shrug> Of course, SSD's have inherent limited lifetimes themselves, but I don't think I will bump into that before my normal upgrade cycle with seems to be 4-5 years. And, we are looking at the Samsung drives with the best rep for over-provisioning and longer life.

If I go with more conventional SSD drives, then a controller card is required to make the best of the faster speeds, as I understand it, so cost ends up similar.

[Russell Holton]

Which, BTW, finding a 3-year-old identical drive was a minor challenge.

I believe some controllers can do OK without identical drives. It's just your capacity and performance is limited by the smaller/slower drive in the system.

[Doug Ritter]

I believe some controllers can do OK without identical drives. It's just your capacity and performance is limited by the smaller/slower drive in the system.

Well, that is good to know. Learn something new everyday. :=)