My system configuration is Windows Small Business Server 2011 (x64), iRST driver version is 12.9.0.1001, ASUS X58 Sabertooth mainboard with BIOS version 1006, iRST firmware version is 10.1.0.1008, 2x512GB Samsung 840 Pro RAID1 configuration, 2x2Tb Western Digital Enterprise Edition drives in RAID1 configuration.
I have run the "AnvilPro Storage Utilities v1.1.0" tool and it indicates that the partition allignment is "OK".
Reliabilty of the system is excellent however performance of the SSDs is not particularly good in my humble opinion.
I have run the trimcheck-0.5.exe tool and this indicates that TRIM is not active.
From reading these blogs I am thinking that I should flash the iRST firmware to v11.6.0.1702 but will this enable TRIM support and/or improve performance? Otherwise can you recommend what iRST firmware and driver versions i should implement in order to get TRIM support and/or improve performance without reducing stability. Alternatively if what I am trying to achieve is not possible using iRST RAID1 functionality then is my only viable alternative to attach the SSDs in AHCI mode and configure a RAID1 at the Windows operating system level?
Provided that the OS itself sends TRIM commands (I am not sure regarding Windows SBS 2011), you will only get TRIM working within your RAIDed SSDs, if you have a) a TRIM modded Intel RAID ROM within your mainboard BIOS and b) created a RAID0 array (RAID1 is not supported).
As long as your SSDs are members of a RAID1 array, you will not get TRIM working within the RAID.
I am curious but what are the technical reasons that TRIM is not supported in RAID1 SSD configurations?
Am I correct in assuming that the configuration I have in place will degrade in terms of performance overtime or SSD logevity will be reduced? Can I schedule some type of periodic TRIM command perhaps?
Are you also saying that SSDs connected in AHCI mode (i.e. with iRST disabled in BIOS) and included in Windows OS RAID1 disk configuration will also not have TRIM support?
The technical reason is, that the TRIM command cannot pass through the Intel SATA RAID Controller into a RAID1 array.
Yes, but the instant of time and the amount of the performance decrease depends on the sort and the use of the SSDs.
It is no problem to send TRIM commands, but they probably will not pass through the Intel RAID Controller into the RAID1 array.
If your Intel SATA Controller is running in AHCI mode, TRIM will pass through it into the SSD(s) without any problem (pre-condition: the OS and the in-use AHCI driver do support TRIM).
