Deisun

Alright so I just got this running and haven't really done anything to my bios or windows to tweak performance at all. I have no idea what to do actually. This is my first run and it doesnt look right to me, especially the burst rate.

Any ideas what could be wrong?
I found this article and that guy is getting way better benchmarks than I am....look at the burst rate ***?


And heres mine...



And heres another one, *** is up with the large down spikes? oO

bavarianblessed

First download and install this(you are using 64 bit?)

After installing and rebooting right click on My Computer and select properties.
Open the device manager and expand the Disk drives field.

Select your RAID array. Right click and select properties again.
Click on the Policies tab and enable write caching.
Also check the box to turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing.

After that's done download and install Smart Defrag.

First analyze your array and then do as it says.

You already have your array built but if you can stand rebuilding it and don't need the full capacity I recommend short stroking it.

Example: I have 3 WD 320GB hard drives in a RAID 0 array. I built the array to only use 200GB however. Here are the results of my drive structure.


By bavarianblessed at 2009-07-05

You have the right equipment, I highly recommend considering the "short stroke" method of configuration unless you must have the capacity.

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Deisun

Thanks!

Is there any performance benefit to "short stroking" the drive?

bavarianblessed

No problem.

Yep. The fastest part of the hard drive is the outer portions(the beginning) of the platters.
If you limit your hard drives to using these faster sections you will lower your access times
making for a "zippier" feeling system all around. The performance benefits are those similar to switching to a 10,000 RPM hard drive.

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Deisun

Thanks I did exactly as you said and it seems to have eliminated the down spikes. My burst rate still seems low even though its now in the 1500mb/sec range though...hrmm...


I don't mind re-installing my OS and re-doing my array. I may do it tomorrow.

bavarianblessed

The higher burst rates are a result of write caching being enabled. You did enable it right?

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Deisun

yeah it is enabled now, i replaced the image of my last benchmark but you quoted me before i replaced it. Take a look at it again hehe

Im still short like 2000mb/sec on the burst rate compared to other benchmarks ive seen.

parityboy

If you look at the bench test of the article you point to, you will notice that the guy's array is 322GB - yep that's right, 25% of the total array capacity. He's running a very short stroke, which is why he can post those numbers.

Based on the graphs you posted, if you really need the numbers then I recommend short stroking. The size of the shortened partition is up to you, and is affected by the minimum numbers you want.

Look at the graph and see where performance starts to get low. At that point is where your short partition should end. Use the numbers at the bottom as a guide - they are a percentage of your array capacity.

Deisun

Hrm, does short stroking mean I'll end up with....

1 small raid 0 partition for my OS, and 1 big raid 0 partition for everything else?

or will it just be....1 small raid 0 partition for my OS and then the rest of the 2 drives will be seperate storage space that isnt raided?