topic Re: System with boot SSD and secondary data HDDs in Intel® Optane™ Memory

System with boot SSD and secondary data HDDs

NRosa — Wed, 24 May 2017 18:23:43 GMT

First of all, my system specs:

Asus Maximus IX Code

Intel Core i7 7700K

2x 8GB Corsair Dominator 3200MHz RAM

Boot drive: Samsung EVO 850 SATA SSD 1TB

Storage HDDs: 5x 2TB Seagate and WD HDDs

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

The boot drive SSD is solely for OS and applications and the paging file. I have moved Documents, Videos, Music, and other user-related files to one of the 2TB HDDs (which I shall call here "Essentials" HDD for the purpose of discussion). The reason for moving user files to another drive is for when/if my OS crashes, I do not lose any of my files. It has been my practice for years.

My PC is used for gaming, image editing (Photoshop), a bit of video editing, and using other productivity applications like Microsoft Office.

Can Optane technology improve my system? For example, can Optane Memory improve performance of my "Essentials" HDD instead of replacing it with an SSD? EDIT: I just read Optane Memory cannot optimize secondary HDDs.

Anything else that Optane Technology do to better my system?

One problem I see (from my limited reading of Optane Memory) is that if/when the Optane Memory fails, the HDD that is paired with will no longer be accessible? And I have to use a third-party software to recovery data from it? Is that correct? Is there a sort of like a S.M.A.R.T. feature in Optane Memory that will warn me before failure so that I can safely disable it, and replace it with a new one?

Thanks in advance for all you input.

Re: System with boot SSD and secondary data HDDs

idata — Wed, 24 May 2017 22:22:16 GMT

Hello nmdelrio,

We understand you're interested in accelerating your system using Intel® Optane™ Memory. Based on your system specifications and the usage you described, this technology will be able to boost your overall performance quite noticeably.

Since Optane™ Memory works by accelerating your boot time and most used applications, gaming and programs such as Photoshop* were a big part of our focus when developing this technology. The fact that your data is mostly stored on your essentials HDD will not affect anything.

Now, while it is true that if your Optane™ Memory module fails it will leave your boot drive inaccessible through the usual means, the Optane™ software constantly monitors your accelerated volume's health. The software will be able warn you ahead of time in most cases, displaying one of the following error messages:

"Your system drive is starting to degrade. Disable Intel® Optane™ memory to avoid data loss."

"Your Intel® Optane™ memory module is starting to degrade. Disable Intel® Optane™ memory to avoid data loss."

Aside from the Optane™ Memory software, you can also use the Intel® SSD Toolbox to monitor your module's health and estimated life remaining.

We hope this information helps. If you still have questions, feel free to let us know.

Best regards,

Carlos A.

Re: System with boot SSD and secondary data HDDs

NRosa — Wed, 24 May 2017 23:25:37 GMT

Thank you very much for the information.

The Optane Memory hardware failure affecting the paired drive was a big issue to me, but now that there is a warning system in place, I feel safer.

I am now convinced to give Intel Optane Technology a go.

Thank you again.

EDIT: I decided to try the following: Make my Essentials HDD as a boot drive to be accelerated by Optane Memory, and make my current boot SSD as a secondary Essentials HDD.

Re: System with boot SSD and secondary data HDDs

DChoi5 — Fri, 26 May 2017 20:18:32 GMT

You can also go the unofficial version by installing older RST drivers and using the Optane Memory as a standard Smart Response Technology device. Tomshardware used it that way to test Optane + NVMe SSD, which is not supported by the current Optane Memory application.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1227655/how-to-set-up-intel-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching How to: Set up Intel Smart Response Technology (SSD caching)

Re: System with boot SSD and secondary data HDDs

idata — Fri, 26 May 2017 23:13:07 GMT

Hello nmdelrio, Hello DavidC2,

Switching your SSD to your essentials possition is a smart move. Even though SATA SSDs can still be accelerated through our supported methods, making this switch will ensure that you have both a fast boot drive thanks to your Optane™ memory, and a fast storage drive since it's an SSD.

While the unofficial method of using the Smart Response Technology (SRT) can be helpful if your system does not meet the Optane™ Memory Acceleration requirements, it's really not worth it if your system is supported. The Optane™ Memory algorithm is much smarter than SRT's.

Using an NVMe drive (Optane™ Memory) to boost another NVMe drive is specially not worth it, since you can only go as fast as the fastest of the two.

Best regards,

Carlos A.

Re: System with boot SSD and secondary data HDDs

DChoi5 — Sun, 28 May 2017 09:52:28 GMT

HDD+Optane Memory is not as fast all the time compared to a dedicated NVMe SSD though. And as a boot drive the times where performance difference is shown will be more often.

You guys need to just enable being able to use Optane Memory caching on a secondary drive. Oh, and I think it should be able to be used on Pentium-based platforms at least, if not Celeron. It's a good budget conscious performance device. Otherwise the market impact might remain small.