Understanding The Differences Between RAID Levels
Secure Data Recovery Services treats hundreds of RAID arrays each year, repairing damaged hardware and restoring lost data to a usable condition. As RAID specialists, we are uniquely qualified to treat all common configurations, and we invest in advanced technology in order to treat every case effectively. Through our network of offices, we provide services for every type of server and storage system.
This chart provides an overview of the major differences between several common RAID levels. Note that many of the advantages and disadvantages listed below are entirely dependent on individual drive configurations; exact storage efficiency and fault tolerance numbers vary greatly in larger arrays.
Performance RAID Configurations
|
|
RAID 0 |
| Striping |
| None |
| 2 |
| 100% |
| Very Fast |
| Very Fast |
| Low |
| No Redundancy |
| Fast and Efficient |
|
|
RAID 50 |
| RAID 0 + RAID 5 |
| Multiple drives outside of mirrored stripe set |
| 6 |
| 66-94% |
| Very Fast |
| Fast |
| High |
High fault
recovery time |
| Excellent fault tolerance |
|
|
RAID 0+1 |
| Mirror of Stripes |
| 1 Drive per sub-array |
| 3 - 4 |
| 50% |
| Very Fast |
| Fast |
| Low to High |
Less fault tolerance
than RAID 10 |
Fast performance,
decent fault tolerance |
Reliable RAID Configurations
| |
RAID 1 |
| Mirroring |
| Single Drive |
| 2 |
| 50% |
| Very Fast |
| Fast |
| Low to High |
Poor storage
efficiency |
| Exceptional read speeds, adequate fault tolerance |
|
|
RAID 10 |
| Stripe of Mirrors |
Multiple failures
outside the striped
mirrorset |
| 4 (2 if Linux) |
| 50% |
| Very Fast |
| Fast |
| Low to High |
Poor storage
efficiency |
| Fast read/write speeds, excellent fault tolerance |
|
|
RAID 6 |
Block level Striping
(2 Parity Blocks) |
| 2 Drives |
| 4 |
| 50-88% |
| Moderate |
| Moderate to Poor |
| Moderate |
Slower than
RAID 5 |
| Better fault tolerance than RAID 5 |
|
|
RAID 5 |
Block level striping
(1 Parity Block) |
| Single Drive |
| 3 |
| 66-94% |
| Moderate |
| Moderate |
| Moderate to Low |
Slow compared to
RAID 1 / RAID 0 |
| Redundancy and decent storage efficiency |
When your RAID array fails, you need assistance from experienced experts. Secure Data Recovery Services maintains an overall success rate of 96 percent for all digital devices, and our specialists have years of experience with various standard and nested RAID systems. When you send your media to one of our facilities, you get fast turnaround times, excellent security and around-the-clock support.
To set up an evaluation or for more information, contact our customer service team today.