Iwill SIDE-RAID100 vs. Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A

The Benchmarks...

The following benchmarks were run with a stripe size of 64K. For the SIDE-RAID100, BIOS and driver version 1.11 was used; for the ATA RAID 1200A, version 1.0 was used.

WinBench Results...

As usual, we'll start off with some single-drive scores:

Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS

Benchmark AMI MegaRAID IDE100, 1 Drive Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A, 1 Drive Iwill SIDE-RAID100, 1 Drive Promise FastTrak 100, 1 Drive
Business Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec) 6304 4274 4552 6128
High-End Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec) 15740 14760 15360 15400

Disk/Read Transfer Rate StorageReview.com
Beginning (KB/sec) 29800 29533 29633 29667
End (KB/sec) 17500 17500 17500 17433

Disk Access Time (ms) 15.18 15.74 15.32 15.14

Disk CPU Utilization (%) 4.76 13.13 2.93 3.04

Baseline Transfer Rate Graph

Iwill SIDE-RAID100 and Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A

A couple notable results. First, the 1200A's CPU utilization comes in much higher than the rest of the pack with a score of around 13%, compared to 3% for the SIDE-RAID100 and FastTrak, and about 4.75% for the MegaRAID IDE100.

Also interesting is the 1200A's significantly higher access time - on average about 0.5ms higher.

RAID 0...

Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS

Benchmark	AMI MegaRAID IDE100, RAID 0, 2 Drives	Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A, RAID 0, 2 Drives	Iwill SIDE-RAID100, RAID 0, 2 drives	Promise FastTrak 100, RAID 0, 2 Drives
Business Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec)	6176	4616	4838	6124
High-End Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec)	18100	17100	18580	9424

Disk/Read Transfer Rate	StorageReview.com
Beginning (KB/sec)	59467	53433	58767	58700
End (KB/sec)	34933	34900	34900	34667

Disk Access Time (ms)	15.04	15.64	15.10	15.08

Disk CPU Utilization (%)	4.70	13.30	3.00	3.03

RAID 0 with 2 Drives Transfer Rate Graph

Iwill SIDE-RAID100 and Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A

Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS

Benchmark	AMI MegaRAID IDE100, RAID 0, 3 Drives	Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A, RAID 0, 3 Drives	Iwill SIDE-RAID100, RAID 0, 3 Drives	Promise FastTrak 100, RAID 0, 3 Drives
Business Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec)	6236	4652	4906	6180
High-End Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec)	19340	17120	19140	10700

Disk/Read Transfer Rate	StorageReview.com
Beginning (KB/sec)	75567	53967	82200	80600
End (KB/sec)	52200	51800	52400	51667

Disk Access Time (ms)	15.24	15.60	15.02	15.40

Disk CPU Utilization (%)	4.76	13.30	2.99	3.06

RAID 0 with 3 Drives Transfer Rate Graph

Iwill SIDE-RAID100 and Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A

Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS

Benchmark	AMI MegaRAID IDE100, RAID 0, 4 Drives	Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A, RAID 0, 4 Drives	Iwill SIDE-RAID100, RAID 0, 4 Drives	Promise FastTrak 100, RAID 0, 4 Drives
Business Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec)	6340	4830	5134	6356
High-End Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec)	19200	16960	18860	8652

Disk/Read Transfer Rate	StorageReview.com
Beginning (KB/sec)	76567	54100	82633	80667
End (KB/sec)	69767	54267	69800	68467

Disk Access Time (ms)	14.90	15.30	14.90	14.82

Disk CPU Utilization (%)	90.43	99.00	88.67	88.70

RAID 0 with 4 Drives Transfer Rate Graph

Iwill SIDE-RAID100 and Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A

Both adapters weigh in somewhat higher in RAID 0 Disk WinMark scores with the SIDE-RAID100 scoring higher overall. It's difficult to put much faith in these numbers, however, considering the consistent issues with RAID DiskMark scores that have cropped up over the last 6 months.

In the STR arena, it's disappointing to see the 1200A limited to around 54MB/sec. This is far lower than the competition, including the 82 MB/sec SIDE-RAID100.

RAID 1...

Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS

Benchmark	AMI MegaRAID IDE100, RAID 10, 4 Drives	Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A, RAID 01, 4 Drives	Iwill SIDE-RAID100, RAID 01, 4 Drives	Promise FastTrak 100, RAID 01, 4 Drives
Business Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec)	6020	4222	4630	4302
High-End Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec)	17420	13820	17460	3080

Disk/Read Transfer Rate	StorageReview.com
Beginning (KB/sec)	59067	53133	59233	59267
End (KB/sec)	34933	34867	34900	34800

Disk Access Time (ms)	15.06	15.62	15.16	13.28

Disk CPU Utilization (%)	4.71	13.30	3.03	3.07

RAID 1 with 2 Drives Transfer Rate Graph

Iwill SIDE-RAID100 and Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A

Both cards score virtually the same in RAID 1 as they do with a single drive. This isn't surprising given their low-cost nature.

RAID 01...

Ziff Davis WinBench 99 under Windows 2000 Professional using NTFS

Benchmark	AMI MegaRAID IDE100, RAID 1, 2 Drives	Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A, RAID 1, 2 Drives	Iwill SIDE-RAID100, RAID 1, 2 Drives	Promise FastTrak 100, RAID 1, 2 Drives
Business Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec)	6304	4244	4478	4450
High-End Disk WinMark 99 (KB/sec)	15400	14620	15320	2920

Disk/Read Transfer Rate	StorageReview.com
Beginning (KB/sec)	29800	29400	29800	29567
End (KB/sec)	17500	17500	17500	17400

Disk Access Time (ms)	15.18	15.72	15.00	13.56

Disk CPU Utilization (%)	4.74	13.20	2.84	3.07

RAID 10 with 4 Drives Transfer Rate Graph

Iwill SIDE-RAID100 and Adaptec ATA RAID 1200A

For what it's worth, the SIDE-RAID100 again wins the DiskMark battle. Unfortunately, the 1200A's higher CPU usage and access times are also present in RAID 01.

IOMeter...