To test each drive we ran 6 test runs per device (1,4,16,64,128,256 queue depth) each test having 8 parts, each part lasting 10 min w/ an additional 20 second ramp up. The 6 subparts were set to run 100% random, 75% read 25% write; testing 512b, 4k,8k,16k,32k,64k size chunks of data. When each test is finished IOMeter spits out a report, in that reports each of the 6 subtests are given a score in I/Os per second. We then take these 8 numbers add them together and divide by 6. This gives us an average score for that particular queue depth that is heavily weighted for file server usage.
Crucial’s MX series has never been targeted at the workstation marketplace so it comes as little surprise that the MX300 is not great at such tasks. By the same token when you combine two of them in a simple RAID they do produce rather impressive workstation-esque performance. Color us impressed.
By dedicating a full core to internal house cleaning the PHISON S10 based XLR8 CS2211 may lack performance at shallow queue depths but it more than makes up for it once the queue depths get more realistic. This goes double for RAID-1 configurations as the demands are nicely spread across both controllers. This is not something we can say about all SATA controllers… and is one of the reasons we like the PHISON S10 so much.
