to RAID 0 or not to RAID 0

[avdmeers]

Allow me to give the proper context:

I'm interested in the UX301LA Zenbook laptop from ASUS. I intend to order at what I know is a reliable webshop. There are two different models, the only difference between them is... one is equipped with two 128GB SSD's in a RAID 0 configuration, the other features one 256GB SSD.

Contrary to what I expected, it turns out the RAID 0 is 100 euros cheaper. The RAID 0 option costs around 1400 euros, the other around 1500 euros.

So, would I be a fool to go for the cheaper option? I do intend to use it for programming and scientific computing (large data files), so I'd reckon RAID 0 actually pays off here. Yet it seems almost too good to be true... how prevalent is the chance of failure for RAID 0 compared to the full SSD? What am I missing? The webshop owners have informed me the price difference is due to different vendors.

 

[RealBeast]

RAID 0 will not pay off (particularly bios based RAID) -- it doesn't make sense for SSDs, as it only improves benchmark scores but not actual performance while simultaneously increasing your chance of problems and data loss. Often bios RAID is susceptible to breaking for issues that would not affect a single drive, so if you go with it make sure to do careful data backup beyond what you would normally.

I have nothing against RAID per se, as I commonly use large arrays for data storage on Adaptec or LSI cards in RAID 5 or 6, but it is not worth the risks in the context of your use.