SupremeRAID™
Frequently Asked Questions

Why is buffering and caching detrimental to NVMe SSD performance?

Buffering and caching are techniques that manage temporary data storage. While these processes introduce overhead and extra latency, they are quite beneficial for traditional hard disk drives due to the substantial latency difference between the hard disk and the host memory. However, when dealing with high-speed NVMe SSDs, the additional latency can counteract the benefits of caching, potentially leading to performance degradation and a potential bottleneck.

How does SupremeRAID™ circumvent the PCIe bandwidth bottleneck?

SupremeRAID™’s unique architecture allows NVMe SSDs to be directly connected to the CPU. Most of the operational control is handled by the GPU, but data transfer occurs directly between the NVMe SSDs and the host memory. This direct connection allows data to be transferred at full PCIe bandwidth of every NVMe SSDs, thus maximizing performance.

How does SupremeRAID™ prevent accidental data overwrites on disks?

Once SupremeRAID™ takes control of the NVMe drives, the original NVMe block devices disappear from the system. This design feature prevents inadvertent data corruption or overwriting by users, thereby significantly enhancing data reliability and preserving data integrity on the SSDs.

How does SupremeRAID™ protect against silent data corruption?

Just like other modern RAID solutions, SupremeRAID™ provides a background consistency checks feature to ensure data integrity over the long term. This process aids in the early detection and rectification of silent data corruption.

Does SupremeRAID™ provide write hole protection? How does it guard against the write hole problem?

Yes, SupremeRAID™ provides write hole protection as most RAID solutions do in write-through mode (i.e. without data caching), although it depends on the re-synchronization operation to ensure data and parity consistency after the system experiences an unexpected shutdown. Given that SupremeRAID™ doesn’t use any memory cache to enhance performance, we employ this same mechanism to guarantee data consistency.

What is checksum verification on read I/O and do I need it?

Checksum verification on every read I/O is a feature some filesystems use to detect file corruption, which may occur due to the silent bit-rot commonly associated with hard disks. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to remember that the primary function of RAID is to offer disk redundancy and maintain service continuity. Most contemporary RAID solutions, including traditional hardware RAID cards, do not typically encompass this feature.

What are the implications if I require checksum verification on read operations?

If you need checksum verification on read operations, you can use SupremeRAID™ in combination with ZFS or Btrfs filesystems. These filesystems offer comprehensive features, including checksum verification, while SupremeRAID™ can offload RAID calculations and I/O operations to the GPU, resulting in a powerful and feature-rich storage solution.