D10 SAS HDD [ Edited ]

[PSChild]

Hello

I have a D10 with a SATA WD Caviar Blue 500GB and I want to know if its possible to use this SAS HDD for Sistem and Work purposes leaving the SATA for network purposes, HP ST3300656SS.

http://www.sillworks.com/compaq/product_info.php?cPath=&products_id=456600&PHPSESSID=00pklhs08g82f8s...

http://www.yobitech.com/Seagate_SAS_300GB_15K_RPM_HD_ST3300656SS_p/st3300656ss.htm

Thank you very much

PD: I suppose the is no problem, the mainly question is about the HP HDD, (HP and Seagate have the same reference of the HDD)

[erik Community SuperMod · Accepted solution]

you can mix SAS and SATA drives in the D10.   i'm currently using a SATA SSD as my boot drive and four 1TB SAS drives for data storage.

the only thing you can't do (or at least it's not recommended) is enabling both Intel RAID and LSI RAID at the same time.   if you need RAID then you can mix SAS and SATA RAID arrays on the LSI controller.   non-RAID SATA drives can be installed in either bank of sockets.

given my personal experience with 15K SAS drives (and specifically the ST3300655SS), i'll warn you that this drive is loud and runs hot.   it's very reliable though.   if you are looking to make your system feel more responsive, a SAS drive will help but a good SSD is even better.

(edit: typo)

[PSChild]

OK, so I suppose you have SAS to lost the minimun speed when accesing to data.

What do you think about Kingston SSDNow V? Is a good SSD?

Thank you

[erik Community SuperMod]

correct.   SAS drives have very low access times.   two 15K SAS drives in RAID 1 are almost as quick as an SSD.   problem is, the SAS drives are loud and use quite a bit of power.

the only SSDs i have experience with are ones from Samsung and Intel.   i currently use 160GB Intel SSDs in my systems.

(edit: typo)

[PSChild]

OK, I understand.

Thank you very much, you give us a great help, thanks again

[PSChild]

Anyone has experience with Seagate ST3300655-SS 300Gb or OCZ Vertex2 E SSD 60 GB?

Regards

[erik Community SuperMod]

ST3300655-SS is what i used to own.   what i mentioned about this drive above would still apply.   my thinkstation D10 came with two of these.

regarding the vertex, you'd be better off looking for reviews on reseller sites like newegg and amazon plus various review sites.   SSDs act the same in a workstation as they do in a notebook so whatever info you find will apply.

if you want to know how an SSD compares to two 15K SAS drives in RAID 1, here are some results in my own system:

seagate 300GB 15K.5 SAS (ST3300655-SS) RAID 1:

intel 160GB X18-m G2 SATA (SSDSA1M160G2LE) bare drive:

in real-world use, the two don't seem much different.   the biggest difference is that the SSD is silent and runs cool.   given the cost of two SAS drives, i don't see any reason to consider them unless you're streaming a lot of data.

[PSChild]

Thank you Erik

I ask and consider both types, thinking in a combination like SSD to OS and Apps and SAS to Work files, Network files or OS cache, due to low SSD GB and difference between SAS and SATA performance. (I have some experience with SCSI but not with SAS)

I have seen some reviews about SSD, and OCZ seems to be better than Kingston I asked for, and I want to know if anyone with the D10 have one.

Sorry for ask so many questions

[erik Community SuperMod]

a storage drive for working files will benefit more from sequential transfer speeds rather than 512k/4k transfer sizes.   i would recommend using an SSD for your OS and two Seagate Constellation ES SAS drives in RAID 1 for working files.   if you want to back up your SSD contents then you can use the built-in backup app in Windows 7 (assuming you use win 7).

i've been extremely happy with the constellation drives and am getting ~145 MB/sec sequential transfers in benchmarks.   real-world transfers are about 80~100 MB/sec.   this is more than fast enough for working files.   plus, the 1TB and 500MB constellations are only 21db and 19db respectively -- a few decibels quieter than the D10 fans.   15K SAS drives are typically 35db or more, easily 10db louder than the D10 itself.

for what you'd spend on two 15K SAS drives, you could get two 7200 RPM SAS drives and put the rest of the money in a good SSD.   i personally recommend Intel SSDs due to their reliability but this of course is up to you.

[PSChild]

Hello

Thank you very much Erik for your great information and tips, is truly impressive your contribution to the community.

I have tested my new SAS 15K, a friend sold me at SATA price so I cant resist, I have to buy the SAS cable to IBM, (I read you wrote about it in other post), wonderful service from IBM, and Curiosly I have tested SCSI u320 15K too, both without Raid, (I know Raid is faster and/or powerfull but now I haven config raid settings) .

Like you say, seing the benchmarks you posted, I think that SSD are the best option and I´ll get one, but I have surprised gratefully the sas 15k low noise, perhaps I am loosing heard level, . I suppose it havent hard work

Seagate Cheetah ST3300655-SS 300Gb SAS 15K from Thinkstation No Raid

Seagate Cheetah ST3146855LC 146 Gb U320 SCSI 15K from IBM xSeries No Raid

** sorry for poor quality due to MS Paint poor JPEG convertion

The Constellation you have post seems to be a good option too, and if you have recommended ..... better option

I am really happy with Thinkstation D10. Thank you very much for your help, I am really am very gratefully.