RAID - redundant array of independent disks

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 disks working in parallel. These disks can be hard discs but there is a trend to also use the technology for solid state drives. There are different RAID levels, each optimized for a specific situation. These are not standardized by an industry group or standardisation committee. This explains why companies sometimes come up with their own unique numbers and implementations. The software to perform the RAID-functionality and control the hard disks 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 2003, as well as Mac OS X include software RAID functionality. Hardware RAID controllers cost more than pure software but they also offer better performance. RAID-systems can be based with an number of interfaces, including SCSI, IDE, SATA or FC (fibre 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 RAID 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.

The History of RAID

In 1987, David Patterson, Garth Gibson and Randy Katz published their landmark research paper, A Case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID), which helped establish the modern RAID industry. The paper defined RAID levels 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Today, even more levels have been defined. More than two decades later, RAID technology remains as vibrant as ever.

Where Can RAID Be Implemented?

There are three places to implement RAID: software, RAID controllers and storage arrays: 1. Software RAID RAID implemented on a server by software uses internal drives or external JBOD (just a bunch of disks). The software, usually a logical volume manager, manages all of the mirroring of data or parity calculations. 2. RAID Controller

These are cards that can be added to a server and offload the overhead of RAID from the CPUs. RAID controllers are a better solution for a single server than software RAID because server CPUs spend no processing power calculation parity or managing the mirrored data. RAID controllers use either internal drives or JBOD. A server-based RAID controller can fail and be a single point of failure. 3. Storage Array A storage array usually consists of two high-performance, redundant RAID controllers and trays of disks. All pieces of the array are redundant and built to withstand the rigors of a production environment with many servers accessing the storage at the same time. They support multiple RAID levels and different drive types and speeds. Storage arrays also usually have snapshots, volume copy and the ability to replicate from one array to another.

Overview of the most popular RAID levels:

RAID level 0 Striping: In a RAID 0 system data are split up in blocks that get written across all the drives in the array. By using multiple disks (at least 2) at the same time, this offers superior I/O performance. This performance can be enhanced further by using multiple controllers, ideally one controller per disk.

Advantages

RAID 0 offers great performance, both in read and write operations. There is no overhead caused by parity controls. All storage capacity is used, there is no disk overhead. The technology is easy to implement.

Disadvantages RAID 0 is not fault-tolerant. If one disk fails, all data in the RAID 0 array are lost. It should not be used on mission-critical systems. Ideal use RAID 0 is ideal for non-critical storage of data that have to be read/written at a high speed, such as on a Photoshop image retouching station. RAID level 1 Mirroring Data are stored twice by writing them to both the data disk (or set of data disks) and a mirror disk (or set of disks) . If a disk fails, the controller uses either the data drive or the mirror drive for data recovery and continues operation. You need at least 2 disks for a RAID 1 array.

RAID 1 systems are often combined with RAID 0 to improve performance. Such a system is sometimes referred to by the combined number: a RAID 10 system.

Advantages RAID 1 offers excellent read speed and a write-speed that is comparable to that of a single disk. In case a disk fails, data do not have to be rebuild, they just have to be copied to the replacement disk.

RAID 1 is a very simple technology.

Disadvantages The main disadvantage is that the effective storage capacity is only half of the total disk capacity because all data get written twice. Software RAID 1 solutions do not always allow a hot swap of a failed disk (meaning it cannot be replaced while the server keeps running). Ideally a hardware controller is used. Ideal use

RAID-1 is ideal for mission critical storage, for instance for accounting systems. It is also suitable for small servers in which only two disks will be used.
RAID 2: Error-Correcting Coding

In RAID 2, data is not stripped at blocks, but at the level of bits. Hamming code is used for error correction. Hamming code is a linear error correcting code. This is very efficient in recovering accurate data from the single bit corruption in data. Thus, this RAID level provides a very high data transfer rate. Not a typical implementation and
rarely used, Level 2 stripes data at the bit level rather than the block level .

Advantages of RAID 2 High data transfer rates. Single bit corruption of data can be accurately recovered. Multiple bit corruption can also be detected with much ease. Disadvantages of RAID 2 Multiple bit corruption is possible. Multiple bit corruption can be detected but not corrected. The error bit correction logic is very complex. RAID 2 has become almost an obsolete method of data storage.

 RAID level 3: Bit-Interleaved Parity

On RAID 3 systems, data blocks are subdivided (striped) and written in parallel on two or more drives. An additional drive stores parity information. You need at least 3 disks for a RAID 3 array.

Since parity is used, a RAID 3 stripe set can withstand a single disk failure without losing data or access to data. Advantages RAID-3 provides high throughput (both read and write) for large data transfers. Disk failures do not significantly slow down throughput. Disadvantages This technology is fairly complex and too resource intensive to be done in software. Performance is slower for random, small I/O operations. Ideal use RAID 3 is not that common in prepress. Raid Level 4: Dedicated Parity Drive A commonly used implementation of RAID, Level 4 provides block-level striping (like Level 0) with a parity disk. If a data disk fails, the parity data is used to create a replacement disk. A disadvantage to Level 4 is that the parity disk can create write [Link] 4 is quite similar to that of RAID 3. It also uses a dedicated parity disk, but the difference is that, it strips the data at block level. This is another RAID level, which became obsolete very soon.

Advantages of RAID 4 It can provide multiple reads if the controller allows it to do so. It is also quite cost-effective. Unlike RAID 3, it does not require synchronized spindles.

Disadvantages of RAID 4 Since, only one block of data can be accessed at a time, hence the system does not have a very good performance. Writing data to disks is also very slow, as in addition to writing blocks of data, the parity data also needs to entered. Implementation of RAID 4 requires solving the problems, which already exist in it, hence making its use almost obsolete.

RAID level 5 Block Interleaved Distributed Parity RAID 5 is the most common secure RAID level. It is similar to RAID-3 except that data are transferred to disks by independent read and write operations (not in parallel). The data chunks that are written are also larger. Instead of a dedicated parity disk, parity information is spread across all the drives. You need at least 3 disks for a RAID 5 array. A RAID 5 array can withstand a single disk failure without losing data or access to data. Although RAID 5 can be achieved in software, a hardware controller is recommended. Often extra cache memory is used on these controllers to improve the write performance.

Advantages Read data transactions are very fast while write data transaction are somewhat slower (due to the parity that has to be calculated). Disadvantages Disk failures have an effect on throughput, although this is still acceptable. Like RAID 3, this is complex technology. Ideal use RAID 5 is a good all-round system that combines efficient storage with excellent security and decent performance. It is ideal for file and application servers. RAID 6 Independent Data Disks with Double Parity RAID 6 was an extension of the RAID 5. Two parity blocks are written in the RAID 6 level, to help in the data recovery process. This RAID level was used for preventing data loss, in case of concurrent disk failures.

Advantages of RAID 6 The RAID 6 performance is high for read operations. Its capacity though not as good as RAID 5 or other RAID levels, but its moderate and hence not very costly to implement. It is good for large data transfers. Disadvantages of RAID 6 The performance is not very good for small data transfers. Writing data requires larger time, as two parity blocks are created.

RAID level 10 Combining RAID 0 & RAID 1 :A Stripe of Mirrors

RAID 10 combines the advantages (and disadvantages) of RAID 0 and RAID 1 in one single system. It provides security by mirroring all data on a secondary set of disks (disk 3 and 4 in the drawing below) while using striping across each set of disks to speed up data [Link] one of the original RAID levels, multiple RAID 1 mirrors are created, and a RAID 0 stripe is created over these.

Advantages of RAID 10 The disk capacity is moderate, 50%. Here again, copies of the same block of data is stored. It is very much fault tolerant, as it can handle multiple hard drive failures. It is very good for large data transfers. Disadvantages of RAID 10 It is not very cost-effective. Duplicate copies of data demands double the number of hard disks, then what is required. Just as in the case of RAID 3, the drive spindles need to be synchronized.

RAID 01 RAID level 01 can also be referred to as RAID 0 + 1. It also does not cause any parity generation. Many people get confused between RAID 10 and RAID 01. However, here first data is stripped in an array of hard drives and another array holds the mirror image of the first array of data.

Advantages of RAID 01 It requires a minimum of 4 drives and is very easy to implement. Since mirror images of all the blocks of data is created, hence the capacity is moderate at 50%. For large data transfers, the data transfer rate is quite high. Disadvantages of RAID 01 Since duplicate copies of the same data is created, hence it is quite costly. The write operation takes comparatively larger time. This was all about the basic RAID levels explanation. Besides these, there are other non standard RAID levels like RAID 7, RAID 5E, RAID 1.5, etc. which were created using the logic of the previous RAID levels.