Western Digital does an awesome job at explaining RAID Storage, why you want it and extra! Take a look at all the pieces they must say.
RAID – or Redundant Array of Impartial Disks – is a kind of storage that writes information throughout a number of drives inside the similar system. Totally different configurations are expressed as numbers, comparable to RAID 0, RAID 1, or RAID 5. Every RAID kind provides customers totally different advantages — elevated efficiency, larger fault tolerance, or a mix of each — relying on the way it writes and distributes your information.
RAID storage options:
- Get the efficiency and safety you want for data-intensive inventive workflows.
- RAID options will be configured for essentially the most rigorous makes use of, comparable to time-sensitive, data-sensitive post-production workflows.
- Cloud-ready RAID storage will be very best for each enterprise and residential customers that need to entry their information from wherever.
- RAID can ship excessive information safety and redundancy every time uptime and availability are vital wants.
Who wants RAID?
You could need to attempt a number of RAID configurations if it’s essential to:
- Keep most uptime and availability in your system
- Work with giant information with out slowing down operations
- Have information redundancy to guard vital info
- Improve the potential imply time to failure of your system
RAID Storage vs. Knowledge Backup
Whereas RAID could make your information storage extra highly effective and resilient, it’s not the identical factor as information backup. RAID arrays unfold I/O operations throughout a number of disks with a purpose to learn and write information sooner, or to reflect information on one drive throughout different drives, which permits the entire system to proceed working with out information loss if a type of drives fails.
However, information backup helps you restore misplaced information. So, whereas information backup options are supposed to get you again in your toes within the occasion of complete information loss, RAID is designed to assist keep away from that sort of loss within the first place. Equally, whereas RAID makes your total storage system extra resilient, it nonetheless solely counts as one copy of your information.
Understanding RAID Configurations
Study extra about the most well-liked RAID configurations that can assist you perceive your wants, in addition to slim down your necessities for efficiency, information safety, and capability.
RAID 0: Excessive Efficiency
RAID 0 gives the quickest learn/write speeds and most availability of uncooked storage capability. Though RAID is often related to information redundancy, RAID 0 doesn’t present any. Nonetheless, it does present the most effective efficiency of any RAID degree.
It achieves this by breaking apart information into smaller teams and storing it on separate disks. For instance, in a two-disk array, the information is break up evenly throughout the 2 disks, doubling your pace. In a four-disk array, you possibly can quadruple your pace, and so forth.
Options RAID 0 merchandise embody SanDisk Skilled G-RAID Shuttle 2, G-RAID Shuttle SSD, and G-RAID 8.
RAID 1: Strong Knowledge Safety
RAID 1 is a superb possibility when information safety and redundancy is your major objective. This RAID kind shops your information on one disk after which retains a separate copy of that information on every of the out there remaining disks.
Which means that if one disk goes down, you continue to have your information able to go. This method provides you the usable storage capability and write speeds of 1 disk however gives robust information safety.
Featured RAID 1 merchandise additionally embody the SanDisk Skilled G-RAID Shutte SSD and the G-RAID Shuttle 4.
RAID 5: Balanced Knowledge Safety and Velocity
Requiring a RAID system of three or extra drives, RAID 5 gives the most effective of each worlds, balancing efficiency and redundancy.
It does this by splitting information into teams throughout all out there drives and creating distributed parity, the place information calculations are saved throughout the drives so that anyone drive could fail, and the information — or parity — on the opposite drives can reconstitute what was misplaced on the failed drive.
It is a sooner setup than a RAID 1but permits for single-disk fault tolerance (regardless of what number of are within the array) in contrast to RAID 0, offering each pace and information safety.
Featured RAID 5 merchandise embody G-RAID Shuttle 4, G-RAID Shuttle 8, and the G-RAID Shuttle SSD once more.
RAID 10: Excessive Reliability and Efficiency
RAID 10 nests a minimum of two RAID 1 units inside a RAID 0 configuration. This blends efficiency with probably larger fault tolerance. Mirroring lends extra redundancy, which implies you can retain your information even in case you lose as much as half your disks — offered your mirrored copy doesn’t fail.
That is why companies and different skilled groups use RAID 10 the place uptime and availability are vital for intense workflows.
Featured RAID 10 merchandise additionally embody G-RAID Shuttle 4, G-RAID Shuttle 8, and the G-RAID Shuttle SSD.
JBOD & JBOF: Versatile
Customizability and Enlargement
JBOD and JBOF, or Only a Bunch of Disks and Only a Bunch of Flash, respectively, open up extra paths to flexibility with a RAID storage system.
Whereas arrays utilizing numbered RAID varieties usually require reformatting so as to add new drives, JBOD and JBOF enable customers to develop or swap drives with out reformatting.
JBOD can do that as a result of every disk acts independently, and every disk is seen as its personal quantity. This additionally means the danger of information loss is contained to 1 drive slightly than your complete array.
With Spanning, information is barely stored inside every disk, however the system make all disks seem as one bigger “logical” quantity — virtually like they’re one huge drive. Spanning is extra versatile than RAID and easier to make use of than JBOD, however it may be extra advanced than JBOD if you wish to transfer drives.
Options merchandise embody the G-RAID Shuttle 8 and extra.
| RAID 0 | Sure | 2 | |
| RAID 1 | Sure | 2 | |
| RAID 5 | Sure | Sure | 3 |
| RAID 10 | Sure | Sure | 4 |
| JBOD & JBOF | 1 |
Take a look at the complete RAID touchdown web page right here!
