HDD Software RAID0 with WDC WD2500JS

Question

Hi all
Since my Quad was factory fitted with a WD2500JS Desktop class HDD, i bought a second one of that type, initially for backup purpose.
Now i want to configure them for software RAID0 (since i got another FW800 drive for backup) and read about WD's built-in error recovery functions.
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/stdadp.php?p_faqid=1397&p_created=1131638613&p_sid=NpquRgji&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTE mcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9NSZwX3Byb2RzPTAmcF9jYXRzPTAmcF9wdj0 mcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9mbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV 4dD1UTEVS&p_li=&ptopview=1
It says the HDD can drop from an hardware array because of a timeout for error recovery the drive takes, and i wonder if the same could happen to the software RAID?
My last experience with apple s/w RAID in a G4 DA was not doubled performance only equal - because both HDDs were on a sinle channel -
but in the Quad this should gain well, if both SATA channels are independent, are they?
I sure will try this...
btw. does the s/w stripe divide two parallel write requests to each one of the HDDs (like h/w does)?
I'd like to forget about all this low-end stuff, if someone could point me to a PCIex SCSI (-RAID) hostadapter for G5 or a reasonable SATA one.
thx
Link
G4 (DA) & G5 Quad Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Answer 1

Might want to find a way to shorten the url so it is a "tiny url" or bracket it.
TLER has been discussed. Is only implemented on reads, and not an issue that I have ever seen or heard, despite the "warning" message... in fact, WD has had trouble with true 'hardware RAID' and issued firmware updates to correct problem back first of the year.
There are external eSATA drive enclosures, PCIe controllers. Sonnet and others for controllers and cases - you can find excellent reviews and tests over on http://www.amug.com
And yes, your two internal SATA drives are on their own independent channel.
You will find stripped RAID using Apple s/w to be fine today, each file is segmented and written to the drives in the array. There is always some overhead but you should see nearly 2x in most applications.