A complete guide to understanding RAID storage: RAID Levels and RAID Types

All of our hosting products and services employ RAID storage. And that’s one of the most prominent features that we are extremely proud of. Our customers really appreciate the fact that we offer RAID storage with all of our hosting options. 

But quite often, we come across someone or the other who uses the services of a different web hosting provider but has no clue about the type of storage their hosting provider offer. When we mention that with MyResellerHome’s hosting services, you get the industry-standard RAID storage, they are completely unfaced. And that is when I realized that most people who use the services of other web hosting providers are not quite aware of what is RAID storage, let alone RAID levels.

That is why today, we have decided to provide our readers with a complete guide to understanding RAID storage, RAID levels, RAID array types, and everything there is to know about RAID arrays.

So let us begin with an in-depth understanding of RAID storage and RAID levels and types.

What is RAID storage?

RAID storage is a type of data storage system that lets multiple disks work together to make an array that is faster and more reliable than any single disk could be on its own. RAID is usually used on servers and desktop computers to increase the total amount of storage space, speed up data storage, and make sure it is safe.

The term RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. The main advantage of using RAID is that it makes it faster to access large amounts of data. In addition, by spreading the load across multiple storage drives, you can make it easier to get to your data and ensure it will still be there if one of the drives fails.

RAID storage Types: Software RAID vs. Hardware RAID

What is Hardware RAID?

Hardware RAID is a technology that allows multiple storage drives to be configured as a single virtual hard drive. 

• This allows the user to access data from all the hard drives as if they were one large drive. 
• This is especially useful for storing large amounts of data, as it reduces the amount of storage needed.
• Hardware RAID uses a hardware RAID controller to administer and configure RAID storage. The hardware RAID controller can administer and perform every task related to RAID storage without the OS. 
• In addition, the RAID controller configures and initializes the physical array and virtual disks in hardware RAID.

What is Software RAID?

Software RAID is a type of RAID that uses software to manage the drives. 

• This makes it easier to set up and maintain, but it can also be less reliable than traditional RAID systems.
• However, software RAID may also be executed outside of the operating system by employing BIOS-based software. BIOS-software RAID is set up using software in the BIOS. 
• Whether RAID is implemented through the operating system or the BIOS, both modes are termed software RAID and create a strain on the system’s CPU. 
• This differs from hardware RAID, in which processing takes place on a separate RAID System.

Differences between Software RAID vs. Hardware RAID

There are several distinctions between Software RAID vs. Hardware RAID. 

• First, hardware RAID is a physical storage system that connects and stores data on many hard disks. This form of RAID is commonly used in servers since it provides improved data storage capacity as well as better read and write rates.
• In contrast, software RAID refers to a collection of operating systems that work together to safeguard data stored on drives by utilizing the capabilities of the underlying disk subsystem. This sort of RAID is more often utilized than hardware RAID since it can be found on both desktop PCs and laptops. Software RAID is more vulnerable to data loss if one disk fails, but it is also less expensive to build and administer.
• The primary distinction between Software RAID vs. Hardware RAID is that with software RAID storage, the software manages RAID, but with hardware RAID, a specific piece of hardware known as a Hardware RAID controller is put in a system to handle RAID storage.

Types of RAID levels 

RAID levels are classified into the following groups:

• Standard RAID levels
• Non-standard RAID levels
• Nested/hybrid RAID levels

You may also pick how to set up RAID on your machine. As a result, you have the option of using hardware or software RAID.

But for this article, we’ll focus on RAID levels 0 to 6.

1. RAID 0: Striping: 

RAID 0 Stripping is a way to improve the performance of a RAID array by making the individual disks in the array into smaller, easier-to-manage volumes. When used with the right software, this method can give you much better performance than a traditional RAID setup. However, it’s important to know that you shouldn’t use RAID 0 Stripping for data that is important to your business or to store user data files. This kind of striping should only be used for short-term storage or as part of a place to try out new ideas.

When RAID 0 striping is used with software that can monitor and manage the array and give real-time feedback on its performance, it works best.

2. RAID 1: Mirroring

RAID 1 provides the simplest and most common form of mirroring – two hard drives are mounted as one logical drive and written simultaneously. To create a RAID 1 mirror, both hard drives must be of equal size and have the same drive letter. Once created, a mirrored drive can be used just like any other drive on your computer. 

One benefit of using RAID 1 mirrors is that data is always available if either hard drive fails. If one hard drive in a RAID 1 fails, the remaining hard drive becomes the new active disk, and the failed disk is replaced with a spare.

3. RAID 2: Bit-Level Striping with Dedicated Hamming-Code Parity

RAID 2 is a storage technology that uses two or more disks to provide increased data protection.  It provides the same level of data protection as RAID 5 but without the added bandwidth requirements. The striped sets are divided into blocks of 2048 bytes each and written to each disk in sequence. If one disk fails, the missing blocks are reconstructed from the remaining streams on the other disks. This process can be repeated until all required blocks have been recovered.

4. RAID 4: Block-Level Striping with Dedicated Parity

RAID 4 is a popular RAID level that uses block-level striping and dedicated parity planes. 

There are many reasons to use RAID 4. First of all, it improves performance significantly compared to other RAID levels. Also, RAID 4 can protect against the loss of individual drives, which is especially important in large organizations where drives can become scarce. Even though there are some problems with RAID 4, like the fact that it needs more hardware resources, the pros usually outweigh the cons.

5. RAID 5: Striping with Parity

RAID 5 is a data protection scheme that uses parity to achieve the desired level of data redundancy. Parity information is created by adding together the bytes of the two sets of data. If any bit in the parity byte changes, then the entire byte must be recalculated and re-written to the disk. This process is repeated for allocating parity blocks until all data has been protected with parity. As a result, RAID 5 can provide up to 4 times the protection of a single disk drive.

6. RAID 6: Striping with Double Parity

RAID 6 is a RAID 5 array with the addition of the double parity functionality. As a result, it is also known as the double-parity RAID.

Striping with Double Parity is a popular method of improving the performance of RAID 6 arrays. When data is striped, the data is divided into two equal pieces and then written to different disks. This improves performance because it eliminates the need to search for and read data from multiple disks.

Nested (Hybrid) RAID storage

Nested (Hybrid) RAID is a RAID storage configuration in which multiple hard drives are used to build a single logical drive. 

• This type of RAID can improve performance and reliability by allowing more data to be stored on fewer hard drives. Nested (Hybrid) RAID is typically used in servers and other high-performance applications.
• Nested (Hybrid) RAID is a feature found in some hard drive arrays that enable additional levels of protection for data. With nested RAID, hard drives can be grouped together and used to store data while still providing the redundancy and performance benefits of a traditional RAID array. 
• This type of RAID is best suited for situations where data storage needs to be protected from physical damage or loss. However, access to the drives themselves must still be possible.

Conclusion

To summarize, understanding RAID storage may be difficult, but with the aid of this guide, you will be able to get a thorough grasp of what RAID levels and kinds exist, as well as how they function. You’ll be able to make informed selections regarding which RAID setup is appropriate for your requirements from now on. So, whether you want to increase your data security or just have access to your information no matter what occurs, knowing RAID storage is critical.