Performance Tips - Promise Technology FASTtrak100 TX User Manual

Performance Tips

Here are some tips that may optimize performance in a RAID 0 striped array. If you
are using an audio/video-editing card, we also recommend reviewing your card's
documentation for additional information.
Use FastTrak100 as D: or other non-bootable drive in a Striped Array
For A/V editing, keep the original system boot drive on the standard IDE controller as
C: drive. Partitioning software such as FDISK will see the array as one physical drive,
D: drive (or later). This will prevent file fragmentation and provide better accessibility
to the array.
Re-Configure PCI Latency Setting
The PCI Latency setting appears in some Mainboard BIOS. The setting governs how
much time is allocated to service each PCI slot. Promise recommends a value of 64.
An optimal value is neither too high nor too low and will vary from system to system.
Optimize Array for "Performance"
The Promise FastBuild BIOS Utility autosetup menu allows optimizing the array for A/V
Editing. The default Performance setting (Striping) selects a Stripe Block size of 64.
This larger block size is recommended for the data streaming requirements of A/V
editing. You may select an even larger block size in manual mode (see page 19).
FastTrak (tm) / FastTrak100 (tm) BIOS Version 1.xx (Build xxxx)
(c) 1995-2001 Promise Technology, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Optimize Array for:
Typical Application usage:
Mode .................................................Stripe
Stripe Block Size.................................... 64
Drive used in Array.................................. 2
Array Disk Capacity ......................... 13044
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Performance
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