RAID levels
RAID devices use different versions called levels. The original paper that coined the term and
developed the RAID setup concept defined six levels of RAID -- 0 through 5. This numbered system
differentiated the capabilities of the RAID versions. The number of levels has since expanded and has
been broken into three categories: standard, nested and nonstandard RAID levels.
Standard RAID levels
RAID 0. This configuration has striping but no data redundancy. It offers the best performance, but it
does not provide fault tolerance.
RAID 0 uses striping to improve data access performance but doesn't provide data
redundancy.
RAID 1. Also known as disk mirroring, this configuration consists of at least two drives that duplicate
the storage of data. There is no striping. Read performance is improved since either disk can be read
at the same time. Write performance is the same as that of single-disk storage. RAID 1 is an effective
tool for disaster recovery.
RAID 1 mirrors all data writes to at least two different devices providing 100% data
redundancy.
RAID 2. This configuration uses striping across drives, with some drives storing error-correction code
(ECC) information. RAID 2 also uses dedicated Hamming code parity, a linear form of ECC. RAID 2
has no advantage over RAID 3 and is no longer used.
RAID 2 stripes data across devices and incorporates error correction technology.
RAID 3. RAID 3 uses striping and dedicates one drive to store parity information. The embedded ECC
information is used to detect errors. Data recovery is accomplished by calculating the exclusive
information recorded on the other drives. Because an I/O operation addresses all the drives at the
same time, RAID 3 cannot overlap I/O. For this reason, RAID 3 is best for single-user systems with
long-record applications.
RAID 3 stripes data across drives and uses a drive to store parity information to en
rapid recoveries.
RAID 4. RAID 4 uses large stripes, which means a user can read records from any single drive.
Overlapped I/O can then be used for read operations. Because all write operations are required to
update the parity disk drive, no I/O overlapping is possible.
RAID 4 is similar to RAID 3, but it uses larger data stripes to accommodate differen
of data and access requirements.
RAID 5. RAID 5 is based on parity block-level striping. The parity information is striped across each
drive, enabling the array to function, even if one drive were to fail. The array's architecture enables
read/write operations to span multiple drives. This results in performance better than that of a single
drive but not as high as a RAID 0 array. RAID 5 requires at least three drives, but it is often
recommended to use at least five for performance reasons.
RAID 5 arrays are generally considered to be a poor choice for use on write-intensive systems
because of the performance impact associated with writing parity data. When a disk fails, it can take a
long time to rebuild a RAID 5 array.
RAID 5 stripes parity data across drives, providing a performance boost and allow
failed drive in the array to rebuild while operations continue.
RAID 6. RAID 6 is similar to RAID 5, but it includes a second parity scheme distributed across the
drives in the array. The use of additional parity enables the array to continue functioning, even if two
drives fail simultaneously. However, this extra protection comes at a cost. RAID 6 arrays often have
slower write performance than RAID 5 arrays.
RAID 6 is similar to RAID 5, but it adds technology to withstand the simultaneous f
two drives.
Nested RAID levels
Some RAID levels that are based on a combination of RAID levels are referred to as nested
RAID. Here are some examples of nested RAID levels.
RAID 10 (RAID 1+0). RAID 10, which combines RAID 1 and RAID 0, offers higher performance than
RAID 1 but at a much higher cost. In RAID 10, the data is mirrored, and the mirrors are striped.
