Virtualization: VD vs Non-RAID mode for SSD

Operations Planning
1

Hi,

I have two options on Dell H730 (LSI Megaraid) controller for my AE servers running on VMs:

  1. Create VD (virtual drive) for each SSD attached (set read/write/drive cache policy, ncq etc via RAID BIOS or MegaCLI) and attach them directly to VM
  2. Set each SSD as Non-RAID drive (control via hdparm/smartctl) (it also gives me +1GB more disk space than in VD-mode) and attach directly too

According to Raid vs directly attached ssds the use of VD-mode leads to performance degradation.

Any ideas what is the best?

P.S. There are VD-drive options (like no read cache, no write cache etc.) recommended for use with FastPath technology but it’s required to buy the license key.

Regards, Alexander

2

Hi,

Since my H730 Mini is not capable of FastPath technology it seems that preferable way is to set SSD drives to Non-RAID mode.

Regards, Alexander