I've been trying to find up-to-date and reliable information about TRIM support in RAID 1 setups using SSDs for OS installations. I know that some time ago, neither AMD nor Intel supported TRIM in RAID configurations. About 15 years ago, Intel began supporting TRIM in RAID 0 arrays. Fast forward to today, I found AMD's 2024 RAID User Guide mentions TRIM support with RAIDXpert2, but it doesn't specify which RAID modes support it. Intel's guidance still points to TRIM being available only in RAID 0, but that was last updated in 2022. Some folks suggest that using software RAID can solve the issue of lacking TRIM, but I worry that this won't allow me to mirror the OS, which is essential for my setup. While some people say TRIM isn't critical due to garbage collection, I believe it's important for maintaining SSD lifespan, especially when using RAID 1 to increase reliability. I'd love to hear from anyone who can shed light on current TRIM support in these setups!
4 Answers
Yeah, fake RAID isn’t great. If possible, opt for a real RAID controller or just stick to software RAID.
Honestly, unless you want to tinker a lot or are using this for really specific needs, it might just be safe to go for a conventional setup. RAID configurations can get tricky, especially with SSDs and TRIM.
You might want to look into using Linux with software RAID via mdadm. It's a solid alternative that supports TRIM when properly configured. But if you're sticking with Windows, you could run into some limitations since the options are more restricted on that OS.
Why not consider using a filesystem like Btrfs or ZFS? Btrfs gives you stable RAID 1 support, though it can have issues with other RAID levels.
According to the Intel documentation, TRIM support really hasn't changed in years – not supported for RAID 1. It was clear 16 years ago, and still seems to be the case based on their last updates. So if you're expecting anything different now, you might be disappointed!
My goal is to mirror Windows too, so Linux solutions like that don't fit my needs. I'm after a chipset RAID solution that's compatible with regular consumer hardware.