HD RAID Question

[Lestat]

I'll buy a HP ML 370 server with 8 HDs SCSI and a HP Smart Array 6402/128 Controller (RAID). The HD detail is:

1 HD 146.8 GB 10K RPM
5 HD 72.8 GB 15K RPM
2 HD 146.8 GB 15K RPM

The point is that I need to configure the 5 HD in Raid 5, the 2 HD in Raid 0 and the first hd alone. Is it valid configuration ? Can I have some problem ?

Thanks a lot !!!!

[wisehosting]

If it was me I would have:

mirrored pair (raid0) for OS
single disk for swap
5 disk array (raid5) for data

I'm not sure that HP Smart Array 6402/128 Controller can do that though (multiple raid arrays on same controller) - best to check with HP first.

Keep the disk speeds the same though - 10k is fast enough.

Why do you need 8 disks though??

[Lestat]

I have a similar server with that controller and multiples arrays and works fine. But in my current server all the HDs are similars (36 GB 15 RPM). My doubt is because the new server has diferents HDs ... Understand ?

[wisehosting]

All the array controller will do is throttle the disk speed down to 10k . . . .

[Lestat]

Wisehosting, are you sure about that all the array controllers "works" at 10K RPM ?

[wisehosting]

Wisehosting, are you sure about that all the array controllers "works" at 10K RPM ?
The array controller will work at 10k - the problem comes when it sees two different speeds with drives attached. Normally speeds will be throttled to the lowest common denominator - in this case 10k.

Whether or not ALL array controllers will do this I do not know (would doubt cheaper ones would) - are you saying this is not working for you?