GA-X58A-UD9 Raid Setup Confusion

[BlackWidow]

I have looked at various forum replies about RAID and the Marvel 9128 controller and am now very confused and am not too sure what RAID controller and which connectors to use.

This is the build I have nearly finished and a brief description as to what I am trying to achieve……
Case: CM HAF X full tower
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9
CPU: Intel Core i7 980X
Graphic: 3 x Asus GTX580 in 3-way SLI
Memory: Corsair Dominator DDR3 12GB (3 x 4GB) CMP12GX3M3A1600C9
PSU: Corsair AX1200W Professional Series Gold (Modular)
CPU Cooling: Noctua NH-D14
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
SSD for the Operating System: Corsair CSSD-V128GB2-BRKT Nova
Hard Disks:
2 x Western Digital WD1002FAEX 1TB Caviar Black SATAIII 7200rpm 64MB Cache 6GB/s
External Western Digital My Book Studio Edition II - 2 x 1TB drives in RAID 1 (mirrored data)
Optical Drives:
LiteOn IHAS124-19 DVD Writer SATA
Pioneer Blu-ray/DVD/CD writer BDR-205BK SATA

I was thinking of getting a second SSD and run them both in RAID 1, still using them for the operating system. Also, in a few months time I would like to get 4 more HD’s and run them in RAID 10.

My initial thought was to put the optical drives on GSATA2_8/9 connectors using the Gigabyte SATA 2 controller, the SSD’s in RAID 1 on the SATA2_0-5 connectors using the ICH10R controller, the 4 new HD’s in RAID 10 also on the SATA2_0-5 connectors using the ICH10R controller (if that is possible) and the Caviar Blacks in RAID 0 on GSATA3_6/7 connectors using the SATA3 Marvel 9128 controller. But, because of the reported problems on the Marvel port I am now not too sure what to do and am very confused.

Would I be better not using the Caviar Black’s in RAID 0 but instead use the hot swap facility in the HAF X and use my SyncBackSE software to mirror the data on these drives? If I do this, does it matter which SATA port I use to plug the hot swap drives?

Would it be better not to buy 4 new HD’s later but to buy 2 more Caviar Blacks now and use all of them in RAID 10 using the ICH10R controller?

Would it be better to run the SSD’s in RAID 1 on the Marvel 9128 controller or would that cause problems?

Would it be better not to use the Marvel 9128 for RAID but connect my optical drives to it instead?

As you can probably tell, I am now so confused as to which options to use. Therefore, any help, guidance and advice in resolving my confusion would be extremely welcome.

Many thanks in advance.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte Forum.

The first thing I would like to make clear in case you are unaware or it is that if you run your SSDs in a RAID array you will not be able to use the TRIM commands to keep the drives healthy. This will mean quite often having to break the RAID and set each drive in Legacy IDE mode and then run a secure erase on each one before reinstalling them as a RAID drive again.

You would not be advised to install either your SSDs or the Western Digital Black SATA3 drives in RAID on the Marvell 9128 controller ports. You could run the WDBs as standalone drives on there but not RAIDed.

The fastest ports on your motherboard are the Intel ICH10R Southbridge ports.

How you decide to impliment this information is up to you I'm afraid.

[BlackWidow]

Many Thanks Dark Mantis for your input.

I was certainly not aware of the SSDs in a RAID array situation. So I guess it is better not to RAID them at all and just stick to using the one SSD. I presume that the SSD could be used in the Marvel 9128 controller successfully?

It's a great shame about not RAIDing the Marvell 9128 - what a waste of a good controller (or is it a good controller?). Therefore, from what you say, I think it would be more prudent to buy 2 more Western Digital SATA3 drives and RAID 10 them using the Intel ICH10R Southbridge ports.

Again, many thanks. Your input has helped me a lot.

[Dark Mantis]

Many Thanks Dark Mantis for your input.

I was certainly not aware of the SSDs in a RAID array situation. So I guess it is better not to RAID them at all and just stick to using the one SSD. I presume that the SSD could be used in the Marvel 9128 controller successfully?

It's a great shame about not RAIDing the Marvell 9128 - what a waste of a good controller (or is it a good controller?). Therefore, from what you say, I think it would be more prudent to buy 2 more Western Digital SATA3 drives and RAID 10 them using the Intel ICH10R Southbridge ports.

Again, many thanks. Your input has helped me a lot.

The Marvell controller was a bit of a letdown in general and not just on Gigabyte motherboard but all across the industry. It was the only solution at the time to offer SATA3  but it just didn't live up to expectations. I am afraid that it is not recommended to run SSDs on it either.It will function fine as a SATA2 controller but just can't handle the higher throughputs of RAID or SSDs.

[BlackWidow]

Many thanks again Dark Mantis.

It looks like I'm not having much luck with my ideas about using the Marvell controller.   
 
I have now lost a lot of confidence in using it and am now concerned that connecting the hot-swap drives to it may have problems. So, I'm starting to think maybe I would be better off to only use it for my optical drives.....I presume they would not give me any problems?

[Dark Mantis]

Generally it will work ok as a SATA2 controller and is fine with magnetic standalone drives. I can't see a problem with using it for your Hotplug drives set to AHCI mode as long as they aren't RAIDed. It would also be fine for your optical drives.

It isn't that it isn't any good just that it didn't live up to expectations.

[BlackWidow]

Again, many thanks Dark Mantis for all your help....it has been greatly appreciated. You have given me enough information for me to now decide the way forward.

[Dark Mantis]

Only too happy to help. If you need any more info please just post back here.