Software RAID5 slow write speeds

Hi,
We have a HP StorageWorks 1200s which has 4 x 250GB drives, Intel
Pentium 4 2.8 GHz with 512 KB L2 Cache & 512MB of PC2100 DDR SDRAM DIMM
Memory. This comes preconfigured with Software RAID5 and the write
speeds to this are shocking so I wondered if anyone could suggest any
tips to increase speeds for software RAID, or alternate RAID config.
Looking at the tests below, it would appear that copying a 60mb file
from an XP workstation to the HP 1200s would take 10 minutes which for
a business is unworkable!

1]Iomega NAS >> 55MB Zip file >> HP 1200s = 9 mins - 130 kb outbound
from Iomega & 100kb inbound on HP [average figure]

2]HP 1200s >> 55MB ZIP file >> Iomega NAS = 1.56 mins - 570 kb outbound
from HP & 470kb inbound on Iomega [average figure]

3]HP 1200s >> 55MB ZIP file >> XP Pro = 2.05 mins - 513 kb outbound
from HP [average figure]

4]XP Pro >> 55MB ZIP file >> HP 1200s = 8.38 mins - 130 kb outbound
from XP & 140kb inbound on HP [average figure]

Would any RAID config improves this or maybe a memory upgrade to 1GB?
Can I change teh bl*** size to increase speed?

Any ideas welcome as HP havent got any!

Thanx
G

.

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