Multiple SSD Drives - RAID0 or Separate

[ChaoticTheory]

I am going to be rebuilding my system soon (thanks to all who have helped thus far) and wondering about the best route to take.

I have 3 SSDs, all Samsung 840Pros, 2x128GB and 1x256GB. The last computer I built for a coworker has similar 3 drives, setup separate, 1 for the main OS, 1 for programs (using SymLink so Windows views it as part of the C: drive), and 1 for files (with the Users folder SymLink on it). Works great, very fast, no problems.

My question is, can I squeeze more performance out of it? Is there a better setup? I envision a number possible setups:

I. 3 separate drives, OS/Programs/Files (same as coworkers)
II. 2 Drives in RAID0 with two partitions, one for OS and one for Programs, with a separate drive for Files
III. 2 Drives in RAID0 with one partition for OS and Programs and a separate drive for Files
IV. All 3 drives in RAID0, either all as one partition or separate partitions as above. Downside being I'd loose half the space on the larger drive.

Redundancy isn't a big concern, as I will have a separate HDD that will have automatic backups to it. Primary focus is blazing fast speeds. I will be using this in conjunction with the RAMCache/RAMDisk tutorial I found here, if that affects any recommendations. Any input is appreciated, if there is some additional information needed or if I am missing something please let me know!

[kkn]

to be honnest ( this is my opinion ) you will only gain a few sec's when doing raid ( boot up and sutch ) so its gona be a waste of space.
do as option 1 is my honest ansver.

[ChaoticTheory]

How would gaining a few seconds be a waste of space? I already have the space, if RAID makes it faster, shouldn't I go for it?

[billyray520]

Do you image your system as backup? If so those symlinks can cause you a world of hurt depending on which backup image you use. I had symlinks on my setup, had the USERS folder moved etc. It worked fine for about a year or more, but when I restored an old backup it fubared everything. I ended up restoring my system to its brand new state and started over (pre-symlinks) Now I stay away from them. That was on Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.

[ChaoticTheory]

Yes, I am aware of trying to restore a symlink drive image. Never had success with it, but it doesn't bother me. I am ok reinstalling in the event if a crash, as long as my files aren't lost, and that is why I backup. Reinstalling gets rid of any unnecessary stuff anyway 🙂

That does bring up the question though - the reason I separated all my files is to gain speed. At one point I read an article that by separating things like that it speeds things up, because you have separate drives working independently (similar to RAID0 i suppose) and because more information is on the outside of the platters you can increase read/write times. I know patters don't apply to SSD, but is there still a speed advantage? Anyone want to tell me their preferred setup in my situation, and why?

[Chino]

Depends on what you do with your system. What kind of tasks do you perform on your computer?

[ChaoticTheory]

Most common tasks are just web browsing, accounting software (quickbooks enterprise), web creation (Adobe Dreamweaver, but just as a code editor and FTP client, don't use the WYSIWYG editor) My big resource user will be Photoshop/Illustrator/Premiere, maybe flash builder. I use Photoshop quite a bit now, the reat not a lot, but increasingly more as time goes on. I will also have a number of games that I intend to play eventually, Far Cry 3, Bioshock:iInfinite, and some others that are coming with my graphics card. Hope that helps.

[Chino]

ChaoticTheory wrote:
Most common tasks are just web browsing, accounting software (quickbooks enterprise), web creation (Adobe Dreamweaver, but just as a code editor and FTP client, don't use the WYSIWYG editor) My big resource user will be Photoshop/Illustrator/Premiere, maybe flash builder. I use Photoshop quite a bit now, the reat not a lot, but increasingly more as time goes on. I will also have a number of games that I intend to play eventually, Far Cry 3, Bioshock:iInfinite, and some others that are coming with my graphics card. Hope that helps.

I'd use the 256GB for the OS and programs, one of the 128GB for the scratch disk and the remaining 128GB for your RAW stuff or project resources.

[ChaoticTheory]

Would I be better using the larger drive for my main OS/Programs and using the smaller ones for files and documents? I've read that because the SSD is comprised of many flash chips it is basically a n-raid0 array, so a larger one has more "drives" in the array, thus is faster. Am I still gaining speed by splitting my OS/Program/files between the 3, or do I lose any advantage because it has to search the sym links out? Is there any disadvantage to RAID0, other than potential data loss? Any other suggestions?