pctechguide.com

  • Home
  • Guides
  • Tutorials
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • Glossary
  • Contact

RAID tutorial – the benefits of using RAID

RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) is a system developed whereby two or more disks are physically linked together to form a single logical, large capacity storage device that offers a number of advantages over conventional hard disk storage devices:

  • superior performance
  • improved resiliency
  • lower costs

There are a number of RAID levels, each focusing on one or other of these advantages, either singly or in combination. The two principal techniques used are:

  • striping, and
  • mirroring

Striping is the technique to provide increased performance. It is a method of mapping data across the physical drives in an array to create a large virtual drive. The data is subdivided into consecutive segments or stripes that are written sequentially across the drives in the array.

Mirroring was the first real implementation of RAID, typically requiring two individual drives of similar capacity. One drive is the active drive and the secondary drive is the mirror, and the technique provides a simple form of redundancy for data by automatically writing data to the mirror drive when it is written to the active drive.

For many years RAID was the preserve of enterprise, server-based systems. However, in recent years, with many desktop motherboards coming equipped with on-board RAID controllers, the technology has moved to the mainstream, where it is being increasingly deployed both for reasons of extracting the maximum level of performance from a system and as a convenient solution to the issue of data security.

Here, we’re implementing RAID 1 for the purpose of improved resiliency. Hard disk head crashes may be relatively rare in this day and age, but they can still be a catastrophe when they occur. How many people routinely backup their user data? Indeed, with the size of hard disks these days, how practical is it to institute a conventional data backup regime, to tape or removable disk media?

RAID 1 offers a simple and effective solution ……. transparently! In the event of a disk failure, the RAID controller will simply use the mirror drive for data recovery and continue operation. OK, you’ll need to replace the defunct drive to reinstate the former level of resiliency, but you’ll not have lost any of your vital user data!

  • RAID tutorial – the benefits of using RAID
  • RAID tutorial – preparing for the installation
  • RAID tutorial – connecting the hard drives
  • RAID tutorial – configuring a RAID array installation
  • RAID tutorial – installing the drivers
  • RAID tutorial – installing Windows on the RAID drive
  • RAID tutorial – maintaining the RAID array

Filed Under: How to Set Up a RAID Array Tagged With: benefits of RAID, RAID advantages, why use RAID

Latest Articles

3d Accelerated Graphic Cards

3D computer graphics requires a lot of computer processing power and a large amount of memory, and, until late 1995, 3D acceleration was only found on a small number of high-end products. Its target applications were high-end rendering packages, supporting engines … [Read More...]

Outlook Express Restoration

To import your backed-up email messages point to Import on the File menu ... ... and then click Messages. Select the appropriate email client from the Select Program window. Click Next. Select the Import mail from an OE6 store directory radio button. Click OK. Click … [Read More...]

MP3

While of only indirect relevance to sound cards, a place has to be found somewhere for a technology that took the PC world by storm in the first half of 1999 - and this seems to be the most appropriate. Derived from the original MPEG standard, MP3 - … [Read More...]

20 Cool Creative Commons Photographs About the Future of AI

AI technology is starting to have a huge impact on our lives. The market value for AI is estimated to have been worth $279.22 billion in 2024 and it … [Read More...]

13 Impressive Stats on the Future of AI

AI technology is starting to become much more important in our everyday lives. Many businesses are using it as well. While he has created a lot of … [Read More...]

Graphic Designers on Reddit Share their Views of AI

There are clearly a lot of positive things about AI. However, it is not a good thing for everyone. One of the things that many people are worried … [Read More...]

Redditors Talk About the Impact of AI on Freelance Writers

AI technology has had a huge impact on our lives. A 2023 survey by Pew Research found that 56% of people use AI at least once a day or once a week. … [Read More...]

11 Most Popular Books on Perl Programming

Perl is not the most popular programming language. It has only one million users, compared to 12 million that use Python. However, it has a lot of … [Read More...]

10 Exceptional Books on ChatGPT that Will Blow Your Mind

ChatGPT is a powerful new AI tool that is taking the world by storm. You are going to find a lot of amazing books that will teach you how to make the … [Read More...]

Guides

  • Computer Communications
  • Mobile Computing
  • PC Components
  • PC Data Storage
  • PC Input-Output
  • PC Multimedia
  • Processors (CPUs)

Recent Posts

How to Remove Ultimate Scan

Easiest Removal Option: Remote Repair: Paying an expert to remove this threat is always the easiest option. It's also the most expensive. … [Read More...]

Serial ATA (SATA) interface guide

In 1999 the Serial ATA (SATA) Working Group was formed, a group comprising companies as illustrious as APT Technologies, Dell, IBM, Intel, … [Read More...]

CDR-RW Disc Capabilities

CD-R's have a pre-formed spiral track, with each sector address hard-coded into the media itself. The capacity of the most … [Read More...]

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 About | Privacy | Contact Information | Wrtie For Us | Disclaimer | Copyright License | Authors