Slow and inconsistent write speeds to RAID 5 volume in Windows - Windows 10 Issues https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/ SoftRAID Discussion Board en-US Tue, 28 Apr 2026 09:04:21 +0000 wpForo 60 RE: Slow and inconsistent write speeds to RAID 5 volume in Windows https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-19068 Thu, 13 Apr 2023 15:52:27 +0000 @roby68 

I think I saw your ticket, it should be opened some time today. Let me know if you do not get satisfactory support.

I do not think this is a seagate issue, performance on Seagates the past several years has been outstanding.

]]> Windows 10 Issues SoftRAID Support https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-19068 RE: Slow and inconsistent write speeds to RAID 5 volume in Windows https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-19065 Thu, 13 Apr 2023 14:47:55 +0000 @SoftRAID Support

The hard disks are Seagate Exos X16, specifically the model ST16000NM001G. I have opened a ticket and am waiting for their response, in the meantime I have generated the diagnostic .zip file.

Thank you.

]]> Windows 10 Issues Roby68 https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-19065 RE: Slow and inconsistent write speeds to RAID 5 volume in Windows https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-19052 Wed, 12 Apr 2023 21:04:24 +0000 @roby68 

What brand drives are these?

This does not seem normal. Can you create a support ticket? You can go to softRAID.com/support

Then run the Windows Diagnostic program with the drives connected. You can download it here: https://download.owc.com/diagnostics/windows

This should generate a .ZIP file - When you get a response, reply with the zip file and any other descriptive information that can help them (copy/paste this post).

]]> Windows 10 Issues SoftRAID Support https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-19052 RE: Slow and inconsistent write speeds to RAID 5 volume in Windows https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-19048 Wed, 12 Apr 2023 11:26:07 +0000 @SoftRAID Support

Second update: performed further testing with a Sabrent container holding 5 disks connected via USB-C Gen2 10Gbit. If I create a RAID5 with 5 disks and reformat the newly created disk by changing the allocation unit size to 64KB using Windows, I get stable performance between 600-700 MB/s. After approximately 20 minutes, the speed suddenly drops to 160 MB/s. If I change the allocation unit size to 256KB, I get stable performance between 600-650 MB/s for the first 30 minutes or so, then it levels off at around 500-550 MB/s. If I format with an allocation unit size of 16KB, writing starts at 500 MB/s but then drops to 160 MB/s after about 20 seconds. I conclude that in order to achieve good performance, I need to have the allocation unit size set to at least 256KB. It would be interesting to be able to assign these values directly in SoftRaid when creating the RAID.

]]> Windows 10 Issues Roby68 https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-19048 RE: Slow and inconsistent write speeds to RAID 5 volume in Windows https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-19046 Wed, 12 Apr 2023 09:14:11 +0000 @SoftRAID Support

Update: conducted a simulation test of a disk failure. It took 5 days to rebuild the RAID5 and I would say that's definitely too long. Once rebuilt, the performance is excellent if the steps I mentioned in the previous post have been taken beforehand.

]]> Windows 10 Issues Roby68 https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-19046 RE: Slow and inconsistent write speeds to RAID 5 volume in Windows https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-18995 Fri, 07 Apr 2023 18:24:14 +0000 @roby68 

Passed on to the main developer. If I hear back something useful, I will post.

]]> Windows 10 Issues SoftRAID Support https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-18995 RE: Slow and inconsistent write speeds to RAID 5 volume in Windows https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-18989 Fri, 07 Apr 2023 15:10:35 +0000 Guys, I've partially solved the issue. I have a Sabrent container with 10 disks connected via USB-C Gen2 10Gbit. If I create a RAID5 with only 5 disks and reformat the newly created disk by changing the allocation unit size from Windows (I tried with 1024 kbytes), everything seems to run smoothly. However, if I do the same thing by creating a RAID5 with all 10 disks, the system runs slowly. And if I don't reformat from Windows, the system still runs slowly even with only 5 disks.

]]> Windows 10 Issues Roby68 https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-18989 RE: Slow and inconsistent write speeds to RAID 5 volume in Windows https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-18987 Fri, 07 Apr 2023 09:39:44 +0000 Good morning, I have a problem similar to the one described by MacBits. Was it solved for him? If so, how? Is it better to open a ticket?

 

]]> Windows 10 Issues Roby68 https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-18987 RE: Slow and inconsistent write speeds to RAID 5 volume in Windows https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-18339 Thu, 26 Jan 2023 17:03:03 +0000 @infooinsure

This is a hardware RAID you are querying about?
Shouldn't you go to Dell for support?

]]> Windows 10 Issues SoftRAID Support https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-18339 RE: Slow and inconsistent write speeds to RAID 5 volume in Windows https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-18338 Thu, 26 Jan 2023 11:30:27 +0000 It is a constant problem, the performance briefly goes up when the cache empties and get full again, during this period the write speeds saturage gbit speeds bit still a few seconds later the cache flushes and performance back again to 45MB sec. The battery is in good condition, the server is a brand new Dell R515, has 3 weeks of life and I can see on the hardware tab the raid controller is not doing any sync or anything else, all green including the battery backed cache.

 

]]> Windows 10 Issues infooinsure https://forums.softraid.com/windows10-issues/slow-and-inconsistent-write-speeds-to-raid-5-volume-in-windows/#post-18338