RAID is a data storage system that uses multiple disks to increase data availability through redundancy or performance through data distribution. It can be expensive, but it is an industry standard. RAID-1 provides redundancy, while RAID-0 improves performance through data striping. A combination of both can be used to improve performance and ensure availability. The term “independent” is now used instead of “cheap” to avoid misconceptions.
A redundant array of inexpensive disks is a data storage system that is typically used with computers, especially computer systems that store important or frequently accessed data. This type of system can be used in many different ways to provide increased data availability through redundancy or increased performance through data distribution. Each of these two primary goals can be achieved in its entirety by sacrificing the other goal or in part as a combination of both goals. A redundant array of inexpensive drives is a common method of building a data storage system and has become the industry standard in some professional industries.
While often referred to simply as “RAID,” the term “redundant array of inexpensive disks” has generally been replaced with the term “redundant array of independent disks,” but both names refer to the same type of system. The modern use of ‘independent’ rather than ‘cheap’ has simply been used to dissuade potential customers or users from believing that this type of system will be inexpensive. While the disks themselves can be quite cheap, since there is a whole array of these disks, with at least two and potentially tens or hundreds, a redundant array of cheap disks can still be quite expensive.
The idea behind a redundant array of inexpensive disks is that multiple disks, each capable of storing data, are used together in a single system. Computers or terminals connected to this system see the entire array as a single storage device when writing to or reading from the array. By using multiple disks within a single array, there is the potential for increased availability, the ability to access data, and increased performance, the speed at which data is accessed.
Higher availability is created through the use of information redundancy across a redundant array of inexpensive disks. With a single disk, if the data on that disk becomes corrupted, it is lost without any other form of backup. However, a redundant array of inexpensive disks can be used to store the same data across multiple disks, and if one disk is damaged, the data can still be recovered from another disk. This type of system is often referred to as a RAID-1 system.
You can also use a redundant array of inexpensive disks to boost performance. If data is stored in separate chunks on multiple disks, not as copies but as separate chunks, the data can be retrieved faster because each disk is accessed for one chunk, rather than waiting for each chunk of data to come from different parts of a single disc. This is called “data striping” and increases a system’s performance, but not availability, and is generally referred to as a RAID-0 system. Other systems use a combination of both types of RAID to improve performance while still building redundancy to ensure availability.
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