$1500 RAID faster than $5700 CalDigit HDPro?

M

mjeppsen

Active member
I just stumbled across an article about a 4TB DIY RAID enclosure that delivers over 400 MB/s write and 500MB/s+ read in a RAID 0 config. Assembly appears to be straightforward, and the parts list only comes to $1450 USD incl s&h. Talk about bang for buck!

The author of the article compares it to the 4TB CalDigit HDPro, a $5700 RAID solution. The kicker is that this DIY option beats the HDPro rather handily in speed tests.

If you are mulling a major storage purchase, this may be a decent option to consider. I'd love to hear back from anyone who's built one.
 
4TB of Indie Spirit

4TB of Indie Spirit

Yep, obviously in a RAID0 config you would be leaning on it for pure performance. And while RAID5 does offer some protection, you ought to have backups anyway (ahh, the age old saying, "RAID is not a backup"). This unit does offer a RAID5 config option as well, at the expense of some performance.

I imagine that this option won't directly compete with CalDigit customers...there's a lot to be said for excellent tech support, and you'd have essentially zero support options with a DIY solution like this. However, it does appear to be a viable, affordable option for those who can't afford high-end solutions and are willing to accept some risks.
 
i saw that on finalcutuser.com. it definitely looks worth it if you don't have the cash to go for caldigit or someone else. i'm considering building one myself once i buy a mac pro and have some cash to spare.
 
mcgeedigital said:
Raid 0 provides no protection in case of HD crash.

And Caldigit support is awesome as well.
Click to expand...

please note, Caldigit is a hardware Raid so there is a different, but still you can DIY hardware raid would out performance Caldigit.

ebox-m @ $399.00 - tray less feature. - DATOptic.com
PCIe x8 raid controller (optional) - it's an Areca PCIe 8x @ $629.00
x8 7200.11 Seagate or WD @ 113.00/ea = $904.00

Total = $1932.00

I tested ~ 600MB/s set up at RAID 5, where raid 0 ~ 650MB/sec

Hope this help
 
I built my 3.2 TB RAID about two and half years ago. According to the Kona benchmark utility, I am getting about 400 mbps in RAID 0. But I am not a professional editor. If I was, I would invest the money in a Cal Dig or other brand name RAID that has great tech support.

RAID 0 is making me nervous these days. At least I have clones of my entire RAID on separate FW drives.

Dan
 
puredrifting said:
Thanks! I am going to re-stripe and re-load.

Dan
Click to expand...

No problem! And just to add, so you don't think I'm some random goof giving advice. I work with computers by profession. I work in a large corporate environment where data access times are critical for clients using a web interface. We use RAID-0 only for pure hard-core data crunching. The data is staged their temporarily, where it's massaged and placed back into our databases. When we place the data in the RAID-0 machines, we're prepared to lose it (i.e. it's backed up). Our databases run on RAID-5 and are quite fast with read/writes for our clients using the web.

(Knock on wood!) I've only lost data one time in a RAID-5 setup and I've worked with hundreds, if not over 1,000 different RAID-5 setups. It happened when 2 drives in the same array went down at the same time (very very rare obviously), and that's expected behavior in that case. It's reliable, just be certain to change that failed drive immediately when it does eventually happen (you prob already know this).
 
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