You can quickly move a drive from a failed enclosure to a new one, and all of your data is preserved.
BEST RAID DRIVES FOR MAC SOFTWARE
With a software RAID, your data can be split across different enclosures for complete redundancy – one drive can completely stop working, and your data will be okay. They are also very cost-effective and easy to implement. Software RAIDĪ software-based RAID system runs entirely at the operating system level, making multiple physical drives show up as a single volume or drive on your desktop. With cheaper hardware RAID systems, you can also lose data if there’s a power outage. With a hardware RAID, if any part of the system fails (such as the controller, enclosure, or power supply), you can lose all of your data. While possibly the most efficient, hardware RAID systems are also the most expensive to implement. Because all of the RAID functions are self-contained within the RAID controller, there are virtually no resources used from the host computer system. Hardware RAIDĪ hardware-based RAID system offers potentially better performance, but it is dependent upon the hardware the system is using. They are quite different, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. There are two primary ways a RAID is managed – with a hardware controller or with a software controller. Distributed Parity spreads the data across all the drives in the array. If a drive fails and is replaced, the RAID controller rebuilds the lost data from the other two volumes.ĭedicated Parity is when the parity information is all stored on a single drive. What is Parity?īy definition, parity is the “state of being equal.” Parity computations are used in RAID drive arrays for fault tolerance by calculating the data in two drives and storing the results on a third. As long as one of the Mirrored Volume’s drives is still working and attached to your computer, it is safe and will function normally. Unlike Striped Volumes, each drive contains a copy of the entire drive.
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Mirroring uses two or more drives to create a volume protected from drive failure. A Striped Volume cannot work unless all of its drives are present and working correctly. Because of this, the time taken for a read or write is a fraction of what they would be if a single drive had to be accessed for the entire file. The drives work simultaneously, with each one reading only a small portion of the file. Each drive is asked to send back just the part of the file which it holds. When reading or writing a large file, the request gets sent to all of the drives at the same time. Striping spreads the data for a single volume over two or more drives, with each drive containing only part of the volume being distributed. That’s easy enough, but the other terms may need a bit more explanation. “Block” in this context refers to a chunk of data. There are a few terms that may sound foreign to you in the chart above – striped blocks, mirrored blocks, and parity. They each have their pros and cons regarding the balance of speed and security. There are 6 different levels (or volume types) of RAID: 0, 1, 4, 5, 6, and 1+0 (10). And it is the volume on the drive(s) that RAID is actually working with. Though the terms “volume” and “drive” are sometimes used interchangeably, it is important to understand that a volume resides on one or more drives. A RAID distributes data across volumes in different ways, depending on the “level” of RAID you choose. The benefits of this are to keep your data safe, to access your data faster, or some combination of both. Simply put, a RAID puts two or more separate drives together to act like one.
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RAID commonly stands for “Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks,” though it is now sometimes better referred to as “Redundant Array of Independent Drives.” Some advocate for this change in the wording because RAID predates SSDs (Solid State Drives), which do not have spinning disks like HDDs (Hard Disk Drives). We’ll even give you some tips as to which RAID configuration might be right for you. This Rocket Yard guide lays out the basics of RAID in an easy to understand manner to get you started – what it is, it’s different levels, types of volumes, and controllers. Whether it is past archives, existing projects, or future jobs, RAID storage solutions are a vital component to optimizing and protecting your digital work. When it comes to your photos, videos, and other valuable files, you don’t want to skimp on data security and management.