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RAID is a technology that is used to increase the performance and/or reliability of data storage. The abbreviation stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (Redundant Array of Independent Disks). A RAID system consists of two or more drives working in parallel. These disks can be hard discs, but there is a trend to also use the technology for SSD (solid state drives). There are different RAID levels, each optimized for a specific situation. These are not standardized by an industry group or standardization committee. This explains why companies sometimes come up with their own unique numbers and implementations. This article covers the following RAID levels:
The software to perform the RAID-functionality and control the drives can either be located on a separate controller card (a hardware RAID controller) or it can simply be a driver. Some versions of Windows, such as Windows Server 2012 as well as Mac OS X, include software RAID functionality. Hardware RAID controllers cost more than pure software, but they also offer better performance, especially with RAID 5 and 6.
RAID-systems can be used with a number of interfaces, including SCSI, IDE, SATA or FC (fiber channel.) There are systems that use SATA disks internally, but that have a FireWire or SCSI-interface for the host system.
Sometimes disks in a storage system are defined as JBOD, which stands for ‘Just a Bunch Of Disks’. This means that those disks do not use a specific RAID level and acts as stand-alone disks. This is often done for drives that contain swap files or spooling data.
Below is an overview of the most popular RAID levels:
In a RAID 0 system data are split up into blocks that get written across all the drives in the array. By using multiple disks (at least 2) at the same time, this offers superior I/O performance. This performance can be enhanced further by using multiple controllers, ideally one controller per disk.
RAID 0 is ideal for non-critical storage of data that have to be read/written at a high speed, such as on an image retouching or video editing station.
If you want to use RAID 0 purely to combine the storage capacity of twee drives in a single volume, consider mounting one drive in the folder path of the other drive. This is supported in Linux, OS X as well as Windows and has the advantage that a single drive failure has no impact on the data of the second disk or SSD drive.
Data are stored twice by writing them to both the data drive (or set of data drives) and a mirror drive (or set of drives). If a drive fails, the controller uses either the data drive or the mirror drive for data recovery and continues operation. You need at least 2 drives for a RAID 1 array.
RAID-1 is ideal for mission critical storage, for instance for accounting systems. It is also suitable for small servers in which only two data drives will be used.
RAID 5 is the most common secure RAID level. It requires at least 3 drives but can work with up to 16. Data blocks are striped across the drives and on one drive a parity checksum of all the block data is written. The parity data are not written to a fixed drive, they are spread across all drives, as the drawing below shows. Using the parity data, the computer can recalculate the data of one of the other data blocks, should those data no longer be available. That means a RAID 5 array can withstand a single drive failure without losing data or access to data. Although RAID 5 can be achieved in software, a hardware controller is recommended. Often extra cache memory is used on these controllers to improve the write performance.
RAID 5 is a good all-round system that combines efficient storage with excellent security and decent performance. It is ideal for file and application servers that have a limited number of data drives.
RAID 6 is like RAID 5, but the parity data are written to two drives. That means it requires at least 4 drives and can withstand 2 drives dying simultaneously. The chances that two drives break down at exactly the same moment are of course very small. However, if a drive in a RAID 5 systems dies and is replaced by a new drive, it takes hours or even more than a day to rebuild the swapped drive. If another drive dies during that time, you still lose all of your data. With RAID 6, the RAID array will even survive that second failure.
RAID 6 is a good all-round system that combines efficient storage with excellent security and decent performance. It is preferable over RAID 5 in file and application servers that use many large drives for data storage.
It is possible to combine the advantages (and disadvantages) of RAID 0 and RAID 1 in one single system. This is a nested or hybrid RAID configuration. It provides security by mirroring all data on secondary drives while using striping across each set of drives to speed up data transfers.
These levels do exist but are not that common (RAID 3 is essentially like RAID 5 but with the parity data always written to the same drive). This is just a simple introduction to RAID-systems. You can find more in-depth information on the pages of Wikipedia or ACNC.
All RAID levels except RAID 0 offer protection from a single drive failure. A RAID 6 system even survives 2 disks dying simultaneously. For complete security, you do still need to back-up the data from a RAID system.
To learn more, read the page on the best back-up policy.