How to software RAID 0 on 2 partition of the same drive (for dual actuator drive speedup) under Windows (alien.top)

submitted 10 months ago by Ascalion@alien.top to c/datahoarder@selfhosted.forum

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hello!

I just got a Seagate Exos Mach2 dual actuator sata drive and am trying to create a RAID 0 out of the two halved partitions in order to mimic what the SAS version does with the two LUNs and basically double the potential speed by using both actuators simultaneously.

I cannot however seem to figure out how to create this striped volume, as the disk management options are all greyed out. I've tried switching the disk to dynamic as well, and it's the same thing.

I'm not too sure how to achieve this, since RAID usually requires disks and not partitions, but it's definitely achievable under Linux: https://forum.level1techs.com/t/how-to-zfs-on-dual-actuator-mach2-drives-from-seagate-without-worry/197067

Anyone know? The limitation being of course, Windows.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Ascalion@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Just an update here, and if anyone finds this thread later on - I was successful!

Not in Windows however, I had to create the array using mdadm and with the use of WinMD 3rd party driver, to allow it to be mounted on Windows.

For reference, here are Disk Mark tests before and after.

It's not quite 2x the performance, but it's definitely better, and best of all, it was free performance!

[-] Asskunt@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Did you do anything special after installing WinMD? I was able to create an array in Linux (with NTFS) and verify the speeds there -- it was 1.8x-ish faster -- but it's not recognized in Windows after installing WinMD. I just get "WinMD controller" in device manager but no volumes show up.

this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2023

2 points (100.0% liked)

Data Hoarder

2 readers

1 users here now

We are digital librarians. Among us are represented the various reasons to keep data -- legal requirements, competitive requirements, uncertainty of permanence of cloud services, distaste for transmitting your data externally (e.g. government or corporate espionage), cultural and familial archivists, internet collapse preppers, and people who do it themselves so they're sure it's done right. Everyone has their reasons for curating the data they have decided to keep (either forever or For A Damn Long Time (tm) ). Along the way we have sought out like-minded individuals to exchange strategies, war stories, and cautionary tales of failures.

founded 11 months ago

MODERATORS

communick@selfhosted.forum