Specifications

Setting up RAID Volumes

Compatibility

SoftRAID vs Apple's RAID

Testimonials

SoftRAID 2 vs SoftRAID 3

FAQ

Archives

SoftRAID 2.2.2 vs. SoftRAID 3 Comparison

SoftRAID 3 is a completely rewritten version of our highly acclaimed RAID software. SoftRAID 3 is written specifically for Mac OS X version 10.2 and higher and adds new features to make software RAID on the Macintosh more flexible and reliable than ever before.

This page is designed to summarize the differences between SoftRAID 2.x and 3.x for those users thinking about upgrading. New to SoftRAID? Click here for complete description of what SoftRAID 3 can do for you.

GUI changes:

• The new SoftRAID 3 Cocoa-native Aqua interface is up-to date and fast. All information is clear and easy to read.
• SoftRAID 3 now places volumes on the right and tiles on the left, a reversal from 2.2.2.
• There is no "show partitions" window, which is unnecessary in OS X.
• Version 2.2x and version 3 tiles show similar information, but SoftRAID 3 also shows I/O's per disk and per volume, and the serial number (or GUID) for each disk.
• At the bottom of the SoftRAID window, we now display the application version and driver version.

Features in SoftRAID 2 that are not included in SoftRAID 3:

• Due to user feedback Convert to Stripe is no longer included.
• The overly complicated driver install dialog box is gone.
• Full Initialize is gone: Since you cannot low level format a disk in OS X, we removed this feature. Instead, we added Zero Disk, which can be used to wipe a disk totally clean.
• Install driver is gone. Since OS X does not have disk based drivers, this is unnecessary.

What is new in SoftRAID 3:

• Expanded Bus support - SoftRAID supports ATA, USB, FireWire, in addition to SCSI and Fibrechannel.
• Expanded Mirror volume size -SoftRAID supports up to 16 disks per MIRROR volume.
• Volume optimization - You can optimize a volume when it is being created for Digital Video, Digital Audio, Server or workstation. This allows changes in how we set up the volume, and behavior when rebuilding a Mirror, for instance.
• Set Primary - SoftRAID 3 allows you to change the primary disk on the fly recover failed Mirror - designed to recover a Mirror volume when all disks have had IO errors.
• Split Mirror - We have added important functionality to this feature. SoftRAID 3 allows multiple drive mirrors, and the ability to split one or more disks at a time from the volume. One of the added features is the ability to split off a Read-only secondary volume. This is a write-protected volume, which can be moved to another system for backup. It can be added back to its original volume at any time.
• Add Secondary disk - Now you can add one or more drives to a Mirror volume. Rebuilds take place in the background.
• Convert to Mirror - You can now take a volume, and multiple disks to it to convert it to a Mirror volume.
• Clear I/O counters - SoftRAID tracks all I/O to disks and volumes. You can clear these counters on any disk or volume.
• Blink Disk Light - This is a fantastic way to locate a disk for troubleshooting.
• Enable Journaling - We support enable/disabling journaling, which is a feature to reduce boot times, and protect your disks from data
  corruption
• Preferences - SoftRAID 3 allows many of its behaviors to be changed via preferences. Some examples: Use all disks for Mirror reads - essentially implements "stripe reads" on Mirror volumes. Automatically rebuild out of sync mirror. Save I/O counts to disk, at shutdown, or at intervals. Require administrator password to use SoftRAID. Control over which dialog boxes appear to the user.

Overall, you will find SoftRAID 3 very similar to SoftRAID 2.x with more flexibility and power. If you are on an OS X machine, why not try the demo?