Question

Compare and contrast different storage configuration such as RAID 0, 1, 5, and 6 (and JBOD).

Answer 1

RAID 1 requires at least two physical disks. RAID 1+0: RAID 1+0, which is also called RAID 10, uses a combination of disk mirroring and disk striping. The data is normally mirrored first, and then striped. Mirroring striped sets accomplishes the same task, but is less fault-tolerant than striping mirror sets

RAID is a technology that is used to increase the performance and/or reliability of data storage. The abbreviation stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. A RAID system consists of two or more drives working in parallel. These disks can be hard discs, but there is a trend to also use the technology for SSD (solid state drives). There are different RAID levels, each optimized for a specific situation. These are not standardized by an industry group or standardization committee. This explains why companies sometimes come up with their own unique numbers and implementations. This article covers the following RAID levels:

RAID 0 – striping

RAID 1 – mirroring

RAID 5 – striping with parity

RAID 6 – striping with double parity

The software to perform the RAID-functionality and control the drives can either be located on a separate controller card (a hardware RAID controller) or it can simply be a driver. Some versions of Windows, such as Windows Server 2012 as well as Mac OS X, include software RAID functionality. Hardware RAID controllers cost more than pure software, but they also offer better performance, especially with RAID 5 and 6

RAID-systems can be used with a number of interfaces, including SCSI, IDE, SATA or FC (fiber channel.) There are systems that use SATA disks internally, but that have a FireWire or SCSI-interface for the host system.

Sometimes disks in a storage system are defined as JBOD, which stands for ‘Just a Bunch Of Disks’. This means that those disks do not use a specific RAID level and acts as stand-alone disks. This is often done for drives that contain swap files or spooling data.

JBOD vs RAID

A basic hard drive and a couple of flash drives is a suitable storage plan for the average PC user. The average business, on the other hand, needs more. More capacity. More efficiency, more reliability. Many businesses narrow their choices for enterprise storage down to two options: JBOD and RAID. Both have been covered here in the Recovery Zone

JBOD

The JBOD architecture is summed up perfectly by its acronym – Just a Bunch of Disks. If you’re envisioning a collection of regular ole hard drives strung together, your imagination has not failed you. The disks in a JBOD array can function as their own individual volumes or can be connected or spanned, to form a single logical volume. When it comes to expanding server storage capacity, few options are easier to implement than JBOD.

RAID

Redundant Array of Independent Disks or RAID, also lives up to its name by using various methods to create data redundancy. Rather than store data on a single disk, RAID breaks it down into smaller bits. These bits are replicated then distributed across multiple drives. The data is retrieved from this collection of drives whenever you need to access a file. Although widely viewed as an enterprise solution, RAID can be advantageous to just about any computer user.