Differing RPMs on disk drives

[Ayman Altounji]

Looking for advice on adding drives to my Proliant ML370, Compaq Smart Array 431 controller. I have four 9.1 gb, wide ultra 2, 7200 RPM drives in the array and I want to add two more.

I find I am somewhat limited to purchasing 10,000 RPM drives and would like an opinion on how much the differing spin rates (7200 & 10000) will affect performance of the server.

(The server is a file and print server for a relatively small office so performance is not critical, but I do not want to affect the performance of the server too considerably.)

[Ayman Altounji]

You could add a million rpm drive to your array and it will only perform at the lowest spindle speed. Try EBay for outdated hardware. No need for you to waste money on drive speed you cannot use, unless you put them on their own array...