What is the full form of the acronym RAID? Which is the technique used in RAID? Which are the RAID levels commonly in use? How do they differ? Which raid level is the best option for mission critical applications and why? How is the mean time between failures (MTBF) reduced by the use of RAID?
Hello,
RAID (redundant array of independent disks) utilizes a technique that stores the same data in different locations, and on many disks. There are over 10 RAID levels and many more possible given new implementations. The best level is determined by the very specific needs of the user. There are a number of factors that affect MTBF and RAID is not a defining factor.
RAID is the short term used for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. The full term is originally called Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. It is the manner of storing or saving the same data in various locations on multiple or numerous hard drives. When you put data on various drives, the input/output operations can overlap or extend beyond in a balanced or stable way which then improves performance.
Because multiple disks raise the mean time between failures or MTBF, saving data redundantly raises the fault tolerance as well. In the operating system, you will see RAID as a single logical drive or hard disk. It also applies the disk striping technique where it partitions every disk’s storage space into units ranging from a sector, which is normally around 512 bytes, up to a number of MBs or megabytes.
For more information, please visit RAID Levels Benefits.
