[schalliol]

Ok, I've been mulling this over for quite a while and thought I should go to the experts (I was thinking perhaps this would be in periphs. but it really is central to the operation of this machine):

Given:
? PowerMac G4/733 (640MB/SuperDrive/GeForce 4Ti/Dual 19" LCDs) 10.2.3
? 2-9GB U160 'cudas (4MB Cache verson)
? 1-Miles U2W
? 2-Maxtor 60GB 7200RPM ATA drives (I bought another of same one that came with my G4)
? One of the Maxtor 60GB units has not been installed
? I am starting up off of the Maxtor
? The two cudas are in RAID 0 config with Apple's software
? I have about $200 I could spend
? I currently do not need anymore hard drive space (the 60GB plus 18GB works)
? I really would like some level of data redundancy (even 9GB worth), but could live without

I need to determine the best config for this stuff, I use large files often, but not all the time.

I'm currently thinking of a few dfferent things:
1. Buy a SIIG ATA RAID 0 card and stripe the 60GB units and boot off of that and keep the U2W RAID as is
2. Buy SoftRAID 3 (when it comes out-upgrade version) and mirror the 60GB units. Bob McWilliams tells me that SoftRAID should treat this volume as a RAID 0 when reading
3. Buy SoftRAID 3 and the SIIG ATA card, stripe the ATA units, and mirror the U2W units (I guess I could boot off of either then)
4. Buy SoftRAID 3 and the SIIG ATA card, but don't flip on the hardware RAID 0 & stripe with SoftRAID (boot from) & stripe the U2W RAID with SoftRAID
5. Other! Explain

What should I do?

[schalliol]

Please someone respond, I need to make a decision soon.

[FauxCaster]

Originally posted by schalliol:
Please someone respond, I need to make a decision soon.

Raid don't get no love at MacNN. Check out macgurus.com, they have a RAID forum

[raferx]

That's a lot of fire power for a little 733 with only 256k of cache...(unless it's a DA version) whaddya doin with it?

[tr]

okay, since no one is really answering your question (and no one has answered my RAID post further down! ), i will chime in on yours.

i'd say, go with option 1: just keep your U2W's the way they are, and pick up a Siig and stripe the maxtor 60's. personally, i just don't feel all that comfortable with Softraid, i like hardware solutions, i guess.

i just put a Siig RAID card in my G4 450, striping 2 maxtor 80GB drives, and i'm really happy with it. i'm using it mainly for video stuff. so right now, i have a total of around 300 GB inside my sawtooth...damn, that's a lot! i guess i'm just storage happy!


tr

[schalliol]

FauxCaster, I posted on MacGurus, but got no response

raferx, it is the Digital Audio version announced in Jan '01 (shipped MUCH later ) When I need the true speed I am using publishing apps like Photoshop, GoLive and others simultaneously. Additionally I just use it for daily tasks and I work at home on it along with a PowerBook G4 (1GHz/1GB/SD). It is a lot of power, and I plan to keep this machine as my main machine for at least a couple more years, though I do get a kick out of how the system looks: http://www.schalliol.com/G4/2.jpg (1-4.jpg)

tr, thanks for your RAID response, I'll try to look yours up to see if I can add something for yours as well. When you bought your SIIG card, how did you get your single 80GB drive to the array? I understand there's a switch you flip to go to RAID 0 on the card, but how do you migrate your data (since normally formatting drives erases data). Did you have to reinstall your OS? Did it come with ATA cables, or did you have to buy some?

Anyone else?

[schalliol]

Oh, new thought after looking at tr's other post, what about keeping the U2W SCSI array as is and getting the ACARD 6880M which supports both hardware RAID 0 & 1 (thought that the SIIG supports only 0).
I guess I then could use this card in either config.

http://www.acard.com/eng/product/ada...aec-6880m.html

[tr]

Originally posted by schalliol:
Oh, new thought after looking at tr's other post, what about keeping the U2W SCSI array as is and getting the ACARD 6880M which supports both hardware RAID 0 & 1 (thought that the SIIG supports only 0).
I guess I then could use this card in either config.

http://www.acard.com/eng/product/ada...aec-6880m.html

see, my question of whether to upgrade using the Acard firmware update 2.42 (my RAID post further down) is because the Siig is the same card as the Acard. ASP shows it as Acard 6880M. with the firmware update, RAID 1 is added.

this link was posted on my topic, i'll have to look at people's experiences with using the Acard firmware on their Siig.
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/IDE/acard...id_update.html


woo-hoo!!!!!!!

700 posts!!!!!!!!!!


tr

[schalliol]

Thanks, yeah, wasn't I the one who posted it there?