OCZ RevoDrive X2 PCI-Express SSD is really fast?

[Algernon]

After surfing net for long time, I just came to know that OCZ touts the RevoDrive X2 is a solid state disk with four sand-force controllers. To use the high performance, can the bootable SSD is designed as a PCI-Express x4 card. But at some sites, I found that it is not fast enough as predicted. I am sure that some of you members must have tested it, so I just want to gain some information about it. It would be much grateful if you share your testing results in details.

[StephanieRice]

RevoDrive series from OCZ is PCI-Express x4 card implemented with. Advised by the high transfer rates of up to 740 MByte / s reaches the SATA interface with theoretical 300 MB / s (in practice about 270 MByte / s) is far from II. Even SATA III with theoretical 600 MByte / s for the acts RevoDrive and especially the RevoDrive X2 already braking. The RevoDrive X2 based on the "normal" RevoDrive - sitting here two SandForce-1200 controller on the PCI-Express card. Both controllers are on a Silicon Image Sil3124 RAID chip controlled. When RevoDrive X2 OCZ is still an additional board with two other SF-1200 controllers and the corresponding memory modules on the card. The Silicon Image chip controlled accordingly, all four sand-force-controller in the RAID process.

[Jevin]

By default, the four sand-force controller to work on the X2 RevoDrive for maximum performance in a fast RAID-0 method. As an option, at boot via the BIOS of its own SSD card for increased data security, the RAID-10-select procedure. Here each of the two SF-1200 controller work on the main and auxiliary board in the fast RAID-0 method - these two are striped then mirrored each other. Anyone who wants can also create two separate RAID-1 volumes. Alternatively, the BIOS or the RAID-5 process with the four SF-1200. The available capacity is reduced accordingly, of course. The RevoDrive X2 is handled by the system as the "normal" version as a SCSI card. Accordingly can also boot directly from RevoDrive X2. When you install Windows XP , Windows Vista or Windows 7 on the RevoDrive, only the appropriate drivers are integrated. OCZ installed on the tested 240-gigabyte version of X2 RevoDrive (OCZSSDPX-1RVDX0240) 34-nm MLC NAND type Intel 29F32G08AAMDB. A total of 64 of these chips are installed on the main and auxiliary board. The MTBF for the RevoDrive X2 has specified OCZ 2,000,000 hours - a typical value for SSDs.

[Rover]

Normally support the sand controller force the TRIM command . Developed specifically for SSDs ATA command changes the deletion strategy, accelerating writes. The RevoDrive however, offers no support TRIM. This is due to the RAID controller on the board, which passes not the TRIM command to force the sand controller. OCZ emphasizes, however, that the SSD used without TRIM support algorithms over time to prevent sinking write rates. OCZ offers RevoDrive X2 in seven models with capacities of 100 gigabytes (about 380 Euro) up to 960 GB (about 2900 euro).

[TechPredator]

OCZs RevoDrive X2 delivers pre-configured in RAID -0 mode, a maximum sequential read rate of 651 Mbytes / s. In streaming with 128 KByte blocks and a queue depth of 32 even outstanding 725 MB / s are possible. By comparison, the normal force RevoDrive with two sand-controller provides a maximum read rate of 510 Mbytes / s. Despite double-controller number of RevoDrive X2 no corresponding increase in the maximum data transfer rate is achieved, is located on the RAID overhead, and already the bandwidth limitation of the interface. The used interface PCI Express x4 allowed in the generation of 1.1, a theoretical transfer rate of 1.25 GByte / s in one direction. The command overhead skimmed over the RevoDrive X2 with the achieved 725 MB / s is almost practical to the border.

[Mentos]

The RevoDrive keeps high read rates on even the full capacity with only minimal disruption. There is no significant increase in the average it sequential write rate: The RevoDrive X2 achieved with 591 MByte / s compared to the RevoDrive (an average of 316 MB) a 87 higher transfers. If the SSD card in the reconfigured to RAID 10 (all data will be lost), so decreases the average sequential write rate by more than half to 248 MByte / s. The explanation is simple, the data must be written in parallel through both controller pairs. In sequential read of the dips to the RAID-0-methods are, however slight. In the typical reading (239 MByte / s), writing (325 MByte / s) and copying (269 MByte / s) of files of different sizes is the RevoDrive (RAID-0) at least 50 percent from the 2.5-inch SSDs. Compared with the RevoDrive the X2 version does, however, from only about seven to 19 percent. Surprisingly, the RevoDrive X2 works at the application testing of PCMark Vantage, even after repeated runs even slower than the RevoDrive.

[Wannabe]

Most of the key enterprise for professional applications, the IOPS RevoDrive X2 trumps for the RevoDrive significantly. The benchmark suite IOMeter SSD elicits at 100 percent with 4 KB random read blocks (unaligned) and Queue Depth 32, a rate of 72,886 IOPS. By comparison, the RevoDrove here creates 39 939 IOPS, a vertex 2 of OZC (also MLC NAND and SF-1200) provides "only" 13 812 IOPS. Even in the scenarios Database Server, File Server, Web Server and Streaming Server, the X2 is RevoDrive each unchallenged lead. Not recommended in terms of performance is also possible RAID-5 mode. In particular, when writing the transfer rates are well below even then a 2.5-inch SSD with sand-force controller.