-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Friday 03 September 2004 12:26 pm, Danny Sauer wrote:
James wrote regarding 'Re: [SLE] Mail Server purchasing decision' on Fri, Sep 03 at 08:44:
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On Friday 03 September 2004 9:57 am, Joe Polk wrote:
I would agree with many of your points save one. HW RAID (not including Promise IDE stuff because that's not a true HW controller in the same sense that a Compaq SMART Array Controller is) is always going to be faster. There is no way, for instance, SW RAID could compete with say a 6400 w/256MB Cache Module.
You really should look at http://spamaps.org/raidtests.php
They used the 3ware controller in both tests, using the 3ware controller's on-board cache in both cases. What kind of person is gonna buy a RAID controller and then run each disk on the controller individually, using software RAID instead of the hardware raid that they paid for?
Someone who wanted better performance?
If those disks had been on the motherboard IDE interface, like >99% of people who use software RAID, the software RAID would've lost, but it does show where a little ore performance could be gained *if* CPU load is irrelevent. What happens when the CPU starts getting loaded down, too, like on a busy database, mail, or web server? Hint, the hardware RAID card keeps up, while software RAID degrades.
Do you have numbers to back that statement up? Do you know how fast the PCI bus is?
With software raid, you also don't get the fancy management interface that most of the big names provide for their cards. Everyone loves a web interface! :)
http://evms.sourceforge.net/ A real GUI is far better than a web interface.
Anyway, I much prefer having the processor left as free as possible for dealing with processing, not wasting time handling I/O stuff that dedicated hardware can do just as well or better in real-world use. Feel free to disagree.
If it made a real difference (feel free to provide numbers) you'd just use a NAS anyway. - -- James Oakley Engineering - SolutionInc Ltd. joakley@solutioninc.com http://www.solutioninc.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This e-mail is CONFIDENTIAL and contains information intended only for the person(s) named. Any other distribution, copying or disclosure is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify me immediately at 902 420 0077 or reply by e-mail to the sender and destroy the original communication. Thank You. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFBOLQG4U2uQswGyDcRAn9EAJ927qiFNg0346pWpwVuxfyD0GECQwCguj8T sJHfVeGC55n+XtAybhuLDqk= =GqQc -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----