Re: Raid performace issues (Raid 5 vs. Raid 0+1) with database files

From: Andrew L. Garman <encephal_at_chorus.net>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 12:04:30 -0500
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.96.990901115731.28147D-100000@tower.itis.com>

> With the 5200 you have hardware RAID5 so writing should be nice and
> fast, not that much different from 0+1, and RAID 0+1 is probably not
> justifiable for extra tiny perf gain agianst cost of disks.

The A5200 does not have hardware RAID5. None of the A5x00 series have hardware RAID. The closest you can get is using the Fast Write Cache Card that has 32 MB of mirrored NVRAM on it. I have to say, in large installations, that card doesn't have enough NVRAM.

If you want to do hardware RAID with Sun products, the A1000, A3500 (with D1000 in the cabinet), A7000 and Sun's PCI RAID controller for E250 and E450 are the only options. The A5x00 series don't work well with RAID-5! The D1000 (standalone, without the A3500) is even worse!

Regards,

Andrew Garman
Goliath Networks, inc.
a Sun Elite Reseller &
IBM Storage Partner :) Received on Wed Sep 01 1999 - 12:04:30 CDT