160GB Intel SSD Gen 2 Performance = WOW!

There have been a few blog posts here on the new second generation Intel Solid-State drives (post category search) lately.

A while back, we put together a box for a client that included an EVGA nVidia based motherboard (EVGA category search). We have had quite the odyssey with this particular system.

The Raptors have consistently broken the RAID 10 array we created via the onboard RAID setup. There has been no rhyme or reason to the array breaking. We even replaced the entire drive set with brand new drives hoping that it would be fixed. No joy there.

Each time the box visited the shop we made sure to update the BIOS on the motherboard and we were still hit with broken arrays.

So, we removed three of the four Raptors leaving the one behind for storage.

We installed a single Intel X25-M 160GB second generation SSD.

We then installed Windows 7 Ultimate x64 retail in 12 minutes using our OCZ ATV Turbo as the source.

Both the SSD and Windows 7 Ultimate retail were provided to our client at no cost along with the labour to install all of their needed applications. We needed to make sure that we made things right.

The scary thing is that the single Intel SSD boots the entire Windows 7 Ultimate OS from start to finish in about 15 seconds! 15 Seconds!!!

• Original blog post on the system configuration.

We define a completed boot as having the ability to click on the Start Button and open any program in the recent list or pinned there.

Even a set of four VelociRaptors configured in a RAID 10 array can’t touch that and they are fast too!

Since installing an Intel 80GB SSD in the Netbook, and soon the Tecra will be getting a 160GB version, bumping out the spindle for an SSD has been an easy sell to our clients.

They can see the visible excitement in me when I am demonstrating a full OS boot in 20 seconds on a Netbook with Windows 7 Pro and an SSD for a drive. Then the application performance for opening them as well as flipping around between open windows and more is pretty impressive on a Netbook.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

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Order an Intel BOXDQ45EK Mini-ITX = Free AOpen S145A Mini-ITX Chassis 91.90G20.A010

Intel currently has a promotion on called Now’s the Time (Intel’s Promo Site). If we purchase an Intel vPro enabled BOXDQ45EK Mini-ITX motherboard then a freebie chassis will be thrown in at no cost to us.

Here are some of the promos available to us in Canada:

Here in Canada, no one has stock on any of the promo codes except Ingram Micro Canada.

• Ingram Micro SKU 11914L includes:
• Intel DQ45EK Mini-ITX vPro Enabled Motherboard
• AOpen S145A Mini-ITX Chassis

Finding an image of the S145A via search was not very easy to do.

The other distributors have In-Win or Winsis Mini-ITX chassis but no ETA on stock for either. Ingram happens to have a lot of the AOpen S145As so we took a risk.

Here is a side-by-side with an In-Win BM639 series Mini-ITX chassis we have been using to date on the left and the AOpen on the right:

The AOpen is slimmer but longer than the In-Win. Thus, we need to keep that in mind when it comes to the workstation’s desktop footprint.

Folks like the height of the In-Win because an LCD monitor sitting on top of it is actually at a pretty comfortable level for a broad spectrum of users.

The promotion is a good deal, but, for the cost conscious among us it is important to note that the AOpen chassis only accepts slimline optical drives. The AOpen, however, does include a slimline SATA to standard SATA adapter cable which is a nice touch.

The typical slimline DVDRW drive is about $60CA or so from our local sources. A quick check with the larger distributors may yield a much better price.

Another plus on the AOpen’s side is the larger power supply. At 160 Watts we can look at a 150GB or 300GB VelociRaptor (2.5” standalone version linked) for a more robust disk subsystem and not worry about taxing the PSU.

The Ingram promo SKU needed to be ordered via phone as the online card had the SKU listed under the motherboard’s SKU, but would not allow us to place it in the cart.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

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150GB Raptor AHFD Series with clear view panel ...

Not being much of a gamer, nor one who extensively mods the cases we setup systems in, the Western Digital 150GB AHFD series Raptor was virtually unseen in our shop.

Until a regular ADFD series died and the only RMA drive we could get back from WD was the AHDFD series.

150GB WD AHFD Series with see-through top

It is pretty neat to see the internals of the drive working after first plugging the drive into a live system via USB.

While waiting for a command from the system, the heads sit right in the centre of the platters given them a 50/50 placement for the quickest access to the outside edge or inside edge of the platters.

Once the drive was initialized, we ran a full format to NTFS and the heads do indeed slowly work their way across the platters from the outside to the inside.

If ever you wanted to know exactly how a drive works internally while processing the various storage commands from a system, this is definitely the way.

Note the warning that accompanies the drive to very careful around the Plexiglas ... to the point that the warranty is void if the cover is damaged in any way.

Neat idea, but not the most practical. :)

This series will probably be a one-off with the advent of the small form factor VelociRaptors that outperform their older siblings by a huge margin ... and do not have the cover real estate to allow for a view port of some sort.

And, there is probably nothing too attractive running under the hood of the new Solid-State Drives either. ;)

Definitely a 10 on the geek kewl factor scale though. We are glad to have had one here to check it out.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

WD 300GB VelociRaptor - Wow

The new WD VelociRaptor sure are fast ... especially relative to their older sibling the Raptor.

We just finished doing a bit of tweaking and upgrading to one of our client's personal system.

The setup:

• Intel QX6700 Quad Core Extreme
• ASUS Maximus Formula
• 4GB Ballistix DDR2
• Sapphire HD 4870 512MB PCI-E Video
• 2x 300GB WD VelociRaptor in RAID 1
• Antec Nine Hundred case
• Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit

Once we had the system together and the OS installed, the subsequent boot ups and reboots for driver updates were pretty stunning.

Off the top, the two VelociRaptors come close to performing as well as the 4 Raptors configured in a RAID 0+1 setup!

The new 300GB drives even come in a 3.5" hot swap backplane ready model too.

So, we are looking to configure a set of four in a RAID 0+1 setup to see how much of an increase in performance there will be. We would bet that the performance increase is significant over the RAID 1 VelociRaptor setup, and substantial over the Raptor RAID 0+1 setup given our experience with them this afternoon.

Western Digital is definitely one to watch in the spindle based performance category ... though with the advent of Solid-State Drives (previous blog post), WD has to hope that their significant investment in high performance spindle based drives pays off in the long run.

For now, WD VelociRaptor definitely makes performance to value sense!

From Western Digital's description:

Double the capacity - State-of-the-art technology packs twice the capacity per disk compared to its older brother WD Raptor resulting in 300 GB of high-performance storage space in this enterprise-class 2.5-inch drive. (Not compatible with notebook computers)

Note the lack of laptop support.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.