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Aurora R16, SSD configurations for optimal performance
Alienware Aurora R16
I'm probably going to add a 4 TB SSD to my Aurora R 16 as an additional drive to go with the factory 2 TB stick. The plan is to put the OS and most program files on the 4 TB module. The 2 TB module will store virtual machines and maybe use it for paging.
It seems like paging starts causing performance issues after you do a lot of writing operations. Granted, it generally takes a long time before all of that writing starts affecting the health of the disc.
Is there really any truth to this thinking? This was something I did in practice back when spinning hard drives were the only option… And it did help. However, SSD's don't have to contend with disk fragmentation, so maybe this is an outdated technique?
ALSO: would I need to turn off the raid options in the bios before adding the new SSD? I think that the default setting on Alienware machines is set to raid zero.
Vanadiel
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April 18th, 2024 23:55
Fragmentation on SSD's does not matter, however deleted blocks do.
That is why you should run a TRIM operation around once per week.
You should never defragment an SSD as it reduces the life span of the memory cells.
BIOS is typically set to RAID mode, but no RAID arrays are defined.
Therefore it does not matter. However SMART status typically cannot be displayed unless the access mode is AHCI.
(edited)
Kcp30228
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April 19th, 2024 16:19
@Vanadiel oh yeah. Glad will never have to worry about fragmentation anymore… Except on my NAS that holds all of my media files and backups.
As far as raid in the bios, if raid is turned on in the controller, but you haven't specified any volumes or/partitions, that I should just be able to add a new SSD in the empty slot and do with it what I will? Just want to make sure I understood correctly.
I think this post also answered that question, but I wanted to be sure. https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/comments/xwq7fe/why_in_bios_raid_is_on_by_default_even_on_single/
Vanadiel
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April 19th, 2024 16:58
@Kcp30228 Yes, as long as you do not configure any RAID volumes they will just be standard NTFS volumes.