Clean Install question from Truck911

[truck911]

Nick, I do have a curiosity.

[NickN]

Here's the deal, unfortunately if you want professional performance you have to accept professional methods. A RAID solution which has WC ability needs the added security of standby power or what is in the cache may be lost.

They way write cache works is it allows the drives to go on to the next task when they are under tremendous load and stores the data on the cards DDR2 memory chips. by doing so your system is calling and writing chunks of data like it was in the RAM memory instead of always waiting for the heads and the drive ICs to signal they were ready for the next call. The down side is a power loss can result in chunks of data not making it back to the hard drive and the array being damaged or the data corrupted.

That does not mean it will happen but the odds are very, very high especially with a write operation in cue. One of the reasons why I use arrays for data calls and not the OS is because of that. But that is also no promise of security either. I still use the BBU and a UPS for that.

A BBU will eliminate the issue all together, including if Windows crashes. The operation is always stored till it is accessed again and can complete. As long as the system is brought back up within 72hours of power failure.

A UPS is not required if you have a BBU. The BBU protects the card all the way around, except for power spikes in which those can fry a PSU, MB, etc so a UPS is not only there to protect critical data, it protects the hardware investment. Little power strips with surge ratings are a joke. If you get nailed, hard, a power strip does not protect anything. They are a marketing gimmick. A UPS isolates the sensitive hardware from the surge.

So that is the deal with UPS/BBU. You can run without the BBU but you are playing a roulette game when you do. With a UPS you are protected from spikes and power loss but are not protected from a Windows crash and we all know how stable Windows is.

At the same time in order to lose the array or corrupt the data the crash or power loss would have to occur at a critical moment in the cards operation. If you are in the middle of a read operation, that

[truck911]

Nick, I had applied every applicable tweak per your recommendations in your above message with exception.

I had not installed the update http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... 934-BBD8...


Just did it now.

[NickN]

[quote]Nick, I had applied every applicable tweak per your recommendations in your above message with exception.

I had not installed the update http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... 934-BBD8...


Just did it now.

[truck911]

Nick, I am running XP and did everything except O&O and regitry mechanic.

[NickN]

Clocking is your decision.. I have nothing against it, I do it too. Just do not clock until everything is installed and its stable.

I always run OS and installed support software other than games and scratch disk activity on another drive. If the OS crashes all I have to do is reinstall (recover from a backup actually, in about 45min) and everything is back as it was like nothing happened.

If I had to clean install I would have to reinstall FSX because of the support it installs into the OS itself no matter where it is.

I also prefer to keep high performance software like FSX on its own database platter to reduce fragmenting and to allow a larger cluster size be formatted which increases the efficiency of sequential file reads.

[raptorx]

Hi Nick.  I didn't see how to set the cluster size during my last format/install.  Where is it and what do you reccommend as the size?

Clocking is your decision.. I have nothing against it, I do it too. Just do not clock until everything is installed and its stable.

I always run OS and installed support software other than games and scratch disk activity on another drive. If the OS crashes all I have to do is reinstall (recover from a backup actually, in about 45min) and everything is back as it was like nothing happened.

If I had to clean install I would have to reinstall FSX because of the support it installs into the OS itself no matter where it is.

I also prefer to keep high performance software like FSX on its own database platter to reduce fragmenting and to allow a larger cluster size be formatted which increases the efficiency of sequential file reads.

[truck911]

Also, I am not running Windows on my FSX array that will also influence things somewhat, and, I use a 64bit OS which also tends to deal with buffers a bit better although the support for hardware can be a bit difficult to find everywhere.

Nick could you please help me again?

I picked up a 150 gig Raptor.

[NickN]

You paid for that RAID card so of course FSX goes on the RAID array.

RAID the 2 matched drives and use the raptor for the OS boot drive off the motherboard SATA connectors

STRIPE is always 256 on the RAID array

[NickN]

[quote]Hi Nick.

[truck911]

You paid for that RAID card so of course FSX goes on the RAID array.

RAID the 2 matched drives and use the raptor for the OS boot drive off the motherboard SATA connectors

STRIPE is always 256 on the RAID array

Big thank you for the quick response Nick.

I never ran this kind of set up before.  What goes on the array besides FSX?  Do I instal the 3ware drivers on the Raptor?  I have MS Office, does it go on the Raptor or the array.

I think that you are great by the way Nick.  Thank you.

[NickN]

The Raptor is for OS and all your software. The RAID array is for FSX and other high performance apps you may want to run like other games. That array is not for apps like Office, etc. its suppose to be dedicated to performance applications only. I only use mine for FSX.

if you are into audio/video editing you can use the free space on the array for the scratch drive with applications like Adobe Premere, Sony Sound Forge, Vegas, etc. RAID arrays are desinged for that type of application as well but you dont install the program on the array, just set the program up to use the array for projects.

3Ware drivers on the Raptor? I dont understand what you mean.. of course all drivers get installed into Windows which is on the Raptor at that point

[truck911]

3Ware drivers on the Raptor? I dont understand what you mean.. of course all drivers get installed into Windows which is on the Raptor at that point

Nick, when installing the OS I hit F6 and installed the 3ware driver.  I can access the array thru the 3ware software from my C: drive but I cannot find the array anywhere.  Do I have to make the array bootable or something?

[truck911]

3Ware drivers on the Raptor? I dont understand what you mean.. of course all drivers get installed into Windows which is on the Raptor at that point

Nick, when installing the OS I hit F6 and installed the 3ware driver.

[truck911]

[quote][quote]

Think I am onto it?