using different hard drives in a raid config

[agent0]

Guys I am getting ready to put together a small ZFS box. I will be using 3 500 gig Seagate Constellation ES drives I also happen to have 2 more 500 gig WD Blue drives laying around. So my question is do you all recommend mixing and matching drives in a raid config lets say raid 5. The Blue's are 7200rpm and 16meg cache on the other hand the Seagates are 64megs cache 7200rm also the seek time is a lot faster than the WD's. I have heard arguments for and against having different drives in the same raid config I always thought it was not that big of a deal as long as they were the same rpm and size .

 

[altqpeeg]

My understanding of what I have read and seen used was that the combination of drives you suggested would work best in a JBOD (Just a Bunch of Drives) RAID. I am not familiar with the ZFS OS/Box that you mentioned so check more with those working with ZFS.

RAID 5 or RAID 6 from most I have read said that matching all drives in an array to type, maker, firmware and specs will be important to the stability of the RAID.

Maybe the best answer may be how important is the DATA that will be on the RAID array and to get more information from the ZFS go to persons.

aq