RAID 10 Configuration: 6 x 146GB 15K RPM or 4 x 300 GB 15K RPM

delldell-poweredgeraid

I am building a Windows 2008 R2 server which will host both Microsoft SQL databases and websites on IIS. Most likely a Dell R710.

I want to go with a RAID 10 for a mix of security and speed. I don't think I'm going to need too much space (databases are mostly text based, will be 1 GB or so at most).

Price-wise I can either choose 6 x 146 GB 15K RPM or 4 x 300 GB 15K RPM hard drives, there is barely any difference in price. The 4 x 300 obviously gives me a bit more space, but that space is most likely going to be unused anyways.

Therefore my question – should I go with the 6×146 or the 4×300 configuration? Are there any benefits to go for more smaller drives? If so, how significant are they?

Thanks!

Best Answer

Agreed with Tom in the first sense.

6x146GB of 15K RPM will give some nice IOPS, though. You'd have three axles of RAID 1 in a larger RAID 0 array, giving you three times the speed of a single drive for writes, and up to six for reads.

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