Performance benefit in creating separate arrays on same controller?

[cmillerl]

I'm getting ready to configure a RAID adapter for a W2K server, and am trying to decide whether to create one array or more. Is there any benefit in creating separate arrays if you only have one RAID controller?


Thanks!

C Miller

 

[lej]

This may depend on the type of RAID controller you use. The big performace advantage of RAID is through the use of multiple read/wright heads working independantly, one set with each drive. As such the more drives you have in an array the better the performance. Therotically of course. You will have a limit on the number of drives per array and channel. Check the specks of your adapter to see how many drives you can have per array and channel. Some adapters support a single array over multiple channels on the same adapter but still may have a limit on the number of drives.

I use IBM drives and ServeRAID adapters and take advantage of the Tag Command Queing. This allows the controller to issue multiple instructions to an individual drive for execution freeing up the bus for other traffic. This also offers a performance boost.

So to answer you question, I like a single array with many drives.

Hope this helps.