RAID Group Types
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a technology used to improve the performance, reliability, and capacity of data storage. There are different types of RAID groups, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Here are the most common types of RAID:
RAID 0: Also known as striped volume, RAID 0 combines two or more disks into one logical disk. Data is split across the disks, which results in higher performance. However, RAID 0 doesn't provide any redundancy, which means that if one disk fails, all data is lost.
RAID 1: Also known as a mirror set, RAID 1 involves creating a duplicate copy of all data on one disk onto another disk. This provides redundancy, as if one disk fails, the other disk can continue to operate with all data intact. However, RAID 1 doesn't improve performance or capacity.
RAID 5: RAID 5 is a popular choice for small to medium-sized businesses, as it offers both performance improvement and redundancy. In RAID 5, data is striped across multiple disks, and parity information is calculated and distributed across all disks. If one disk fails, the parity information can be used to reconstruct the lost data.
RAID 6: RAID 6 is similar to RAID 5, but it uses two parity blocks instead of one. This provides even greater redundancy, as two disks can fail without any data loss.
RAID 10: RAID 10, also known as RAID 1+0, combines the redundancy of RAID 1 with the performance improvement of RAID 0. Data is mirrored across two sets of striped disks. This provides both redundancy and performance, but requires a minimum of four disks.
There are also other less common RAID levels, such as RAID 2, RAID 3, RAID 4, and RAID 7, but they are not as widely used as the ones mentioned above. The choice of RAID level depends on the specific needs of the user or organization, including performance, capacity, and redundancy requirements.