Currently, my mid-2012 MacBook Pro is configured with a striped RAID using two 512GB SSDs, and the performance gains have been substantial:
BEFORE: Single Solid State Drive
After: Dual Solid State Drives in a Striped RAID
To put these speed tests in more simple terms, going from a single SSD to the striped RAID configuration using two Solid State Drives gave me a 2.2x performance gain on Read speeds and a 4.3x performance gain on Write speeds. This is a massive performance gain that can be felt immediately; it only takes about 15 seconds to boot Yosemite on my mid-2012 MacBook Pro. However, there is an element of risk to consider here before proceeding. Using a striped RAID configuration means that you are twice as likely to have a drive failure, simply because you are relying on two disks to store your data and if one drive in a striped array fails, all of your data is lost. I’ve worked with nearly 100 SSDs at this point, and not one has failed or even been dead on arrival; however, knowing my chances of a drive failure are now doubled, I back-up my machine everyday, without fail. So, if you’re still up for moving to a striped RAID, here’s what you need to do… I’m hopeful this article has helped to get you more up to speed on how to use RAID to improve your laptop’s performance bring you to new levels. Read more Tips and How To’s like this one on TechCo. This article was originally published on Random Nerds and authored by Joe Corbett. If you enjoyed it, visit Random Nerds for more great pieces.
