Lab Tests: Single PCI Ultra-Wide SCSI Controller RAID Tests
By Mike Breeden
Published: February 1998Part 3 - Single SCSI Card/Dual Drive Raid Tests. Intro | Cards Tested | ATTO Benchmark | FWB Benchtest | Time Drive | MacBench | Graphs ATTO Benchmark Results with One SCSI Card/Dual Drive Raid 0 Array
The ATTO Tools utility has a benchmarking function, which I personally like as it's fast and does not use the system disk cache (although it has an option to do so). Bypassing the system disk cache gives a better indication of the card and drive performance, eliminating the effect of a large cache setting in the memory control panel - which inflates scores in other benchmarks like MacBench 4.0.
When the tests are run with the system cache enabled, peak reads and writes often reach 60-100+MB/sec (esp. with the PowerForce and other G3 cards with large fast backside caches). You can argue that this is the state you will using the system, but for an accurate test of card and drive/driver performance, we want to remove as many other factors as possible.
For this test pairs of each brand of card was installed in slots 1A and 2D. In the future I plan to show results of tests in other slots of the Tsunami motherboard in the PowerTower Pro. The FWB driver was optimized using the standard SCSI Configure utility control/optimize function. The Conley driver was set to the default 256 I/Os setting, with fast read, fast write (defaults) and fast Photoshop settings enabled. Other packages were left at their default settings (I ensured that the hard disk caches were enabled). The 32K scores below would be indicative of performance in a database application, while the larger sizes would be more applicable to typical file I/O and larger file applications like video capture. Most drivers, especially Raid, tend to be optimized for the larger file size I/O, but this is usually selectable in the array setup phase.
Raid Software used: ATTO Raid v1.1, CharisMac Anubis Raid 1.36, Conley SoftRaid 2.0, FWB Raid ToolKit 2.06, Adaptec Remus Lite v1.4.
ATTO Benchmark v1.1 Results - One SCSI Card/Dual Drive Raid Array
PR = Peak Read, SR = Sustained Read, PW = Peak Write, SW = Sustained Write.
All rates are in MegaBytes/Second.
(Numbers in parenthesis indicate Dual Card results.)
Red = Best Score, Blue = Worst Score.Card Driver 32KB
Test128KB
Test512KB
Test2MB
TestAdaptec 2940
Bios 3.0Anubis Raid PR 17.94 (18.24)
SR 16.61 (16.85)
PW 7.76 (7.30)
SW 5.07 (5.21)PR 27.11 (44.65)
SR 25.77 (40.95)
PW 18.60 (23.18)
SW 11.11 (12.51)PR 33.47 (59.74)
SR 25.42 (40.97)
PW 22.49 (23.79)
SW 16.26 (16.42)PR 33.32 (59.12)
SR 17.14 (17.14)
PW 20.00 (23.14)
SW 18.88 (18.69)Adaptec 2940
Bios 2.5Anubis Raid PR 20.22 (20.12)
SR 18.75 (18.86)
PW 7.96 (8.04)
SW 6.98 (6.96)PR 29.89 (48.22)
SR 28.80 (44.67)
PW 21.76 (26.25)
SW 20.22 (24.63)PR 33.45 (59.81)
SR 31.04 (52.86)
PW 23.24 (33.26)
SW 17.95 (17.11)PR 32.52 (56.29)
SR 16.88 (17.02)
PW 22.90 (26.37)
SW 18.64 (18.56)Adaptec 2940
Bios 3.0ATTO Raid PR 18.72 (18.87)
SR 17.34 (17.80)
PW 10.06 (8.32)
SW 7.25 (7.13)PR 28.24 (46.53)
SR 26.56 (42.58)
PW 17.42 (27.56)
SW 16.37 (24.16)PR 33.51 (59.92)
SR 26.70 (43.79)
PW 21.94 (35.62)
SW 16.51 (16.51)PR 34.07 (61.26)
SR 17.42 (17.39)
PW 21.54 (26.06)
SW 19.14 (18.96)Adaptec 2940
Bios 2.5ATTO Raid PR 19.08 (19.32)
SR 17.74 (17.75)
PW 8.78 (8.01)
SW 7.14 (6.79)PR 28.31 (46.24)
SR 26.54 (42.14)
PW 17.49 (26.14)
SW 16.43 (22.96)PR 33.72 (60.33)
SR 26.74 (44.67)
PW 23.47 (35.49)
SW 16.86 (17.16)PR 34.09 (60.54)
SR 17.45 (17.45)
PW 21.52 (26.68)
SW 18.97 (19.18)Adaptec 2940
Bios 3.0SoftRaid2 PR 18.78 (20.85)
SR 17.60 (19.73)
PW 35.40 (37.36)
SW 27.26 (28.49)PR 28.02 (49.18)
SR 27.15 (46.97)
PW 30.88 (36.06)
SW 13.71 (27.60)PR 33.31 (60.65)
SR 21.64 (51.13)
PW 26.52 (35.11)
SW 16.24 (19.39)PR 33.45 (59.15)
SR 17.17 (17.13)
PW 22.12 (30.50)
SW 18.90 (19.08)Adaptec 2940
Bios 2.5SoftRaid2 PR 19.20 (-)
SR 17.75 (-)
PW 37.19 (-)
SW 29.39 (-)PR 28.39 (-)
SR 27.39 (-)
PW 33.88 (-)
SW 12.71 (-)PR 33.30 (-)
SR 21.59 (-)
PW 27.46 (-)
SW 15.78 (-)PR 33.80 (-)
SR 17.17 (-)
PW 20.41 (-)
SW 18.92 (-)Adaptec 2940
Bios 3.0Remus Lite PR 14.46 (18.87)
SR 13.01 (16.49)
PW 8.60 (8.52)
SW 6.75 (7.14)PR 25.82 (42.58)
SR 24.70 (39.37)
PW 11.95 (26.56)
SW 9.17 (24.28)PR 32.50 (57.30)
SR 21.01 (46.74)
PW 21.41 (25.96)
SW 15.47 (17.62)PR 31.32 (57.60)
SR 16.97 (17.31)
PW 20.37 (24.96)
SW 18.73 (19.16)Adaptec 2940
Bios 2.5Remus Lite PR 17.17 (19.70)
SR 14.52 (16.83)
PW 8.17 (8.87)
SW 7.36 (6.99)PR 27.68 (44.01)
SR 26.23 (40.20)
PW 19.64 (26.45)
SW 18.25 (23.89)PR 32.87 (57.44)
SR 27.81 (46.19)
PW 22.19 (27.45)
SW 16.73 (17.17)PR 32.84 (58.49)
SR 17.19 (17.33)
PW 20.18 (24.41)
SW 18.66 (18.94)Adaptec 2940
Bios 3.0RTK 2.06 PR 16.54 (22.15)
SR 15.59 (20.80)
PW 7.75 (10.77)
SW 4.96 (8.07)PR 27.08 (47.56)
SR 26.29 (44.40)
PW 18.57 (25.39)
SW 15.69 (18.08)PR 32.52 (58.92)
SR 21.22 (30.94)
PW 22.99 (34.32)
SW 15.69 (18.37)PR 32.72 (60.93)
SR 16.62 (17.14)
PW 20.48 (24.96)
SW 18.86 (19.56)Adaptec 2940
Bios 2.5RTK 2.06 PR 16.89 (-)
SR 15.71 (-)
PW 7.75 (-)
SW 4.75 (-)PR 27.54 (-)
SR 26.51 (-)
PW 16.62 (-)
SW 11.82 (-)PR 33.57 (-)
SR 21.07 (-)
PW 23.65 (-)
SW 16.07 (-)PR 33.05 (-)
SR 16.60 (-)
PW 19.77 (-)
SW 19.02 (-)ATTO Anubis Raid PR 18.46 (18.60)
SR 16.85 (17.33)
PW 7.78 (7.96)
SW 6.75 (4.87)PR 27.72 (44.73)
SR 26.38 (40.92)
PW 19.18 (24.10)
SW 12.43 (12.37)PR 33.56 (59.33)
SR 25.44 (39.42)
PW 20.88 (26.06)
SW 16.39 (16.88)PR 33.35 (60.05)
SR 16.88 (17.32)
PW 20.56 (24.01)
SW 18.81 (18.57)ATTO ATTO Raid PR 18.85 (19.02)
SR 17.52 (17.73)
PW 9.52 (8.46)
SW 7.17 (6.83)PR 28.65 (48.31)
SR 27.13 (43.51)
PW 20.34 (28.93)
SW 18.08 (22.64)PR 33.51 (59.38)
SR 26.75 (43.53)
PW 22.34 (28.51)
SW 16.48 (15.92)PR 33.15 (60.62)
SR 17.39 (17.43)
PW 23.72 (23.60)
SW 19.03 (19.20)ATTO SoftRaid2 PR 19.24 (21.83)
SR 17.62 (20.33)
PW 17.47 (19.49)
SW 15.69 (17.99)PR 28.52 (49.95)
SR 27.53 (47.20)
PW 20.73 (29.45)
SW 13.13 (25.46)PR 33.42 (60.21)
SR 21.65 (50.03)
PW 23.00 (35.54)
SW 16.09 (19.46)PR 33.45 (58.63)
SR 17.37 (17.19)
PW 23.37 (29.18)
SW 19.19 (18.99)ATTO Remus Lite PR 17.77 (20.31)
SR 15.21 (17.37)
PW 8.02 (8.37)
SW 6.62 (7.24)PR 28.11 (44.57)
SR 26.62 (41.08)
PW 20.40 (26.89)
SW 18.75 (24.14)PR 31.88 (57.67)
SR 27.32 (46.58)
PW 20.73 (27.55)
SW 17.49 (17.35)PR 32.43 (56.65)
SR 17.34 (17.27)
PW 22.37 (24.29)
SW 19.23 (18.98)ATTO RTK 2.06 PR 18.07 (23.97)
SR 16.69 (22.29)
PW 8.18 (8.63)
SW 4.40 (6.61)PR 28.08 (48.97)
SR 27.27 (45.64)
PW 20.30 (26.42)
SW 15.82 (16.20)PR 33.45 (60.44)
SR 20.88 (31.28)
PW 23.61 (29.72)
SW 16.60 (15.86)PR 33.17 (60.12)
SR 16.66 (17.12)
PW 23.34 (29.93)
SW 18.91 (19.05)Initio Miles Anubis Raid PR 17.56 (17.08)
SR 15.96 (16.11)
PW 9.59 (7.63)
SW 7.18 (6.75)PR 23.65 (34.59)
SR 22.55 (31.21)
PW 18.82 (23.24)
SW 11.74 (12.51)PR 28.51 (42.56)
SR 22.28 (31.35)
PW 22.42 (24.57)
SW 16.47 (16.80)PR 27.41 (40.89)
SR 16.93 (16.82)
PW 20.44 (19.94)
SW 18.88 (18.97)Initio Miles ATTO Raid PR 17.57 (17.46)
SR 16.02 (16.35)
PW 8.91 (9.12)
SW 7.08 (6.82)PR 24.15 (35.02)
SR 22.57 (32.12)
PW 17.54 (26.98)
SW 16.36 (22.57)PR 28.25 (41.35)
SR 23.13 (31.45)
PW 20.83 (27.44)
SW 16.14 (16.32)PR 28.16 (42.29)
SR 17.44 (17.50)
PW 20.66 (24.20)
SW 18.98 (19.14)Initio Miles SoftRaid2 PR 17.83 (19.89)
SR 16.89 (18.76)
PW 35.28 (39.01)
SW 30.02 (35.05)PR 24.69 (37.69)
SR 23.76 (35.70)
PW 27.52 (31.72)
SW 12.02 (28.19)PR 28.04 (42.58)
SR 19.51 (37.18)
PW 23.08 (34.99)
SW 15.47 (18.47)PR 28.51 (42.84)
SR 17.21 (17.21)
PW 22.18 (20.88)
SW 18.93 (18.86)Initio Miles Remus Lite PR 15.82 (16.48)
SR 13.05 (14.57)
PW 7.54 (10.09)
SW 6.86 (7.20)PR 23.42 (32.29)
SR 22.18 (29.93)
PW 21.92 (26.89)
SW 19.86 (23.23)PR 27.61 (39.66)
SR 24.01 (31.68)
PW 21.72 (32.19)
SW 17.68 (17.77)PR 27.61 (40.15)
SR 16.98 (17.23)
PW 19.72 (22.93)
SW 16.87 (19.17)Initio Miles RTK 2.06 PR 15.34 (19.16)
SR 14.39 (18.09)
PW 8.66 (8.13)
SW 6.11 (6.58)PR 23.30 (35.84)
SR 22.90 (34.13)
PW 21.03 (26.68)
SW 16.18 (20.83)PR 28.27 (42.70)
SR 19.05 (26.33)
PW 20.39 (30.86)
>SW 16.34 (15.54)PR 28.20 (42.94)
SR 16.65 (17.17)
PW 20.09 (22.84)
SW 19.02 (19.34)Jackhammer Anubis Raid PR 17.79 (18.04)
SR 16.60 (16.59)
PW 8.23 (7.75)
SW 7.00 (5.61)PR 26.57 (46.34)
SR 25.40 (41.90)
PW 20.19 (23.95)
SW 12.19 (12.44)PR 33.59 (61.70)
SR 25.62 (41.80)
PW 22.10 (32.97)
SW 15.72 (15.71)PR 33.13 (60.73)
SR 17.23 (17.36)
PW 20.03 (24.24)
SW 18.81 (18.68)Jackhammer ATTO Raid PR 18.35 (18.73)
SR 16.91 (17.25)
PW 9.72 (7.89)
SW 7.72 (6.81)PR 27.09 (45.52)
SR 25.89 (41.59)
PW 21.33 (26.72)
SW 16.89 (24.39)PR 33.00 (60.19)
SR 26.30 (42.78)
PW 20.94 (30.43)
SW 15.95 (16.39)PR 33.53 (61.41)
SR 17.31 (17.28)
PW 22.51 (25.93)
SW 18.98 (18.96)Jackhammer SoftRaid2 PR 19.81 (21.66)
SR 18.47 (20.39)
PW 37.68 (38.06)
SW 31.86 (33.97)PR 27.91 (51.22)
SR 26.80 (47.82)
PW 31.03 (30.98)
SW 13.94 (26.69)PR 33.27 (62.40)
SR 21.66 (52.66)
PW 30.87 (36.48)
SW 16.05 (19.22)PR 33.72 (62.01)
SR 17.18 (17.26)
PW 22.29 (30.59)
SW 18.94 (19.06)Jackhammer Remus Lite PR 14.39 (18.37)
SR 13.18 (16.17)
PW 9.02 (8.11)
SW 7.32 (7.02)PR 25.57 (42.01)
SR 24.38 (38.46)
PW 12.26 (26.15)
SW 8.82 (24.40)PR 32.45 (56.94)
SR 21.20 (44.20)
PW 18.50 (31.95)
SW 15.41 (17.98)PR 31.12 (56.72)
SR 16.75 (17.26)
PW 19.90 (20.96)
SW 18.65 (19.15)Jackhammer RTK 2.06 PR 17.53 (23.72)
SR 16.02 (22.52)
PW 8.66 (8.13)
SW 5.26 (6.90)PR 28.09 (48.08)
SR 27.11 (44.98)
PW 19.34 (26.89)
SW 17.05 (21.68)PR 33.34 (64.36)
SR 21.51 (32.74)
PW 23.92 (26.72)
SW 16.67 (16.00)PR 33.19 (64.11)
SR 16.95 (17.56)
PW 20.25 (21.94)
SW 19.10 (18.96)Stock SCSI
IBM AV
7200rpm Dr.FWB PR 3.73
SR 3.17
PW 4.74
SW 3.69PR 6.14
SR 5.34
PW 6.65
SW 5.96PR 6.96
SR 6.74
PW 7.23
SW 6.90PR 7.29
SR 7.18
PW 7.42
SW 7.26Note: This test did not use the system disk cache, to better indicate the actual drive and scsi interface performance.
Notice that the peak Read/Write rates are usually much higher for the dual card setup (shown in parenthesis), but the sustained rates are literally identical. I think this shows that the two drive array is the limiter with the dual card setup. A larger number of drives or even faster drives (i.e. Seagate's Cheetah 10,000 rpm drive) would have shown more of an advantage for the dual card configuration.
TOP PERFORMERS: JackHammer Card and Conley SoftRaid 2.
View Single Card/Drive Scores for this Test
Some call the ATTO test a little too simple, so I also tested the cards using FWB's Hard Disk ToolKit BenchTest, and the scores are shown on the next page.
Index of One SCSI Card/Dual Drive Raid Comparison
Intro | Cards Tested | ATTO Benchmark | FWB Benchtest | Time Drive | MacBench Graphs | Go to Dual SCSI Card Raid Tests | Go to Single Card/Drive Tests
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