What is RAID

RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) is a technology that is used to increase the performance and/or reliability of data storage. 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:

• RAID 0 – striping
• RAID 1 – mirroring
• RAID 5 – striping with parity
• RAID 10 – combining mirroring and striping

The distribution of data across multiple drives can be managed either by dedicated computer hardware or by software. A software solution may be part of the operating system, part of the firmware and drivers supplied with a standard drive controller (so-called "hardware-assisted software RAID"), or it may reside entirely within the hardware RAID controller.

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.

Below is an overview of the most popular RAID levels:

In a RAID 0 system data are split up in 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.

Advantages

• RAID 0 offers great performance, both in read and write operations. There is no overhead caused by parity controls.
• All storage capacity is used, there is no overhead.
• The technology is easy to implement.

Disadvantages

• RAID 0 is not fault-tolerant. If one drive fails, all data in the RAID 0 array are lost. It should not be used for mission-critical systems.

Ideal use

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. 

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.

Advantages

• RAID 1 offers excellent read speed and a write-speed that is comparable to that of a single drive.
• In case a drive fails, data do not have to be rebuild, they just have to be copied to the replacement drive.
• RAID 1 is a very simple technology.

Disadvantages

• The main disadvantage is that the effective storage capacity is only half of the total drive capacity because all data get written twice.
• Software RAID 1 solutions do not always allow a hot swap of a failed drive. That means the failed drive can only be replaced after powering down the computer it is attached to. For servers that are used simultaneously by many people, this may not be acceptable. Such systems typically use hardware controllers that do support hot swapping.

Ideal use

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.

Advantages

• Read data transactions are very fast while write data transactions are somewhat slower (due to the parity that has to be calculated).
• If a drive fails, you still have access to all data, even while the failed drive is being replaced and the storage controller rebuilds the data on the new drive.

Disadvantages

• Drive failures have an effect on throughput, although this is still acceptable.
• This is complex technology. If one of the disks in an array using 4TB disks fails and is replaced, restoring the data (the rebuild time) may take a day or longer, depending on the load on the array and the speed of the controller. If another disk goes bad during that time, data are lost forever.

Ideal use

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.

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.

Advantages

• If something goes wrong with one of the disks in a RAID 10 configuration, the rebuild time is very fast since all that is needed is copying all the data from the surviving mirror to a new drive. This can take as little as 30 minutes for drives of  1 TB.
• The array can sustain multiple drive losses so long as no mirror loses all its drives.

Disadvantages

• Half of the storage capacity goes to mirroring.