AHCI or Raid? Can you have both with an SSD?

[Majestic]

Hi,

I have a clients systems whom I have upgraded and added 3 raid drives.

He's using a Gigabyte P35-DS4P Motherboard. 8 GB, OCZ SSD 60 gb. 3 x 2 TB Seagates.

I got him a new Ocz SSD 60 GB to install windows on but he also has 3 drives he needs put in raid. I've read quite a bit about how the SSD must have AHCI on for Trim Support and NCQ and other features.

It seems there is only an option of RAID OR Ahci and not both. I do realize that I don't have the full understanding of how this controller is working so-to-speak.

What I would like to do is what is the best solution here?

He has 3 x 2 TB Seagate drives in raid 5, and an Ocz 60 GB Ssd. Is there a way to have both working? I had considered using the software raid but I think that there would be a good performance loss compared to the on-board raid we are using on the motherboard.

Also, while I had originally installed the OS in AHCI, I had rebooted then switched back to raid. I did manage to boot back up to Windows without issue however in Disk Management I'm seeing the 3x2 TB drives as 2 partitions of 2 gb and 1.6 tb. Is that normal for a raid 5 Array to act like that? I had expect to only see the 4 gb since the last drive is supposed to be working for parity.

Any help would be Greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Majestic

 

[AdamsAPlus]

I have set up several raid 5's but I have never put 2 raid 5 on the same computer. I would think this would be a little tricky. You would also have to research the mobo and see if it supports it. I know of a friend that put in 2 Raid 1's on a Mobo, but a Raid 5 is a little different.

You might have to look into get a Sata Raid PCI card. I have not actually had to use one but I believe it will do what you are wanting.

If you make a raid 5 out of 3 - 2tb drives then you should see 4tb. You are correct. One will be used for parity so you will see one less drive than you will have. You said that

in Disk Management I'm seeing the 3x2 TB drives as 2 partitions of 4 gb and 2 tb.

You should be seeing 1 partition (unless you created more than one partition) and it should be 4tb. Not sure why you are seeing a 4GB partition. and not sure why your other is only 2TB. What types of partitions are these showing up as in Disk Management?

 

[Majestic]

I have set up several raid 5's but I have never put 2 raid 5 on the same computer. I would think this would be a little tricky. You would also have to research the mobo and see if it supports it. I know of a friend that put in 2 Raid 1's on a Mobo, but a Raid 5 is a little different.

You might have to look into get a Sata Raid PCI card. I have not actually had to use one but I believe it will do what you are wanting.

If you make a raid 5 out of 3 - 2tb drives then you should see 4tb. You are correct. One will be used for parity so you will see one less drive than you will have. You said that

You should be seeing 1 partition (unless you created more than one partition) and it should be 4tb. Not sure why you are seeing a 4GB partition. and not sure why your other is only 2TB. What types of partitions are these showing up as in Disk Management?

I'm sorry maybe I did not express it correctly.

I have 1 X SSD 60 GB
and 1 x Raid 5 Array consisting of 3 x 2 tb Drives (total 6 TB, with 2 tb for parity).

I have just converted the disks to GPT. Not sure if I HAVE to do it. I thought that the MBR limit of 2 tb was only in 32 bit? This is Windows 7 64 bit Pro. In any case, I hope that'll be okay.

I'm still concerned about TRIM and ahci with the SSD. Any other suggestions? My client does not want to purchase a seperate raid card. I may have to though!

Is SOFTWARE Raid really bad in cpu usage compared to the on-board raid? I've used it before with not much an issue but I don't use software raid that often.

Majestic