Many users have heard of such a concept as RAID disk arrays, but in practice, few people imagine what it is. But as it turns out, there’s nothing complicated here. Let us analyze the essence of this term, as they say, on the fingers, based on the explanation of information for the average layman.
What are RAID disk arrays?
To begin, consider the general interpretation that is offered by online publications. Disk arrays are entire information storage systems consisting of a bundle of two or more hard disks that serve either to increase the speed of access to stored information or to duplicate it, for example, when saving backup copies.
In such a bunch, the number of hard drives in terms of installation theoretically has no limits. It all depends on how many connections the motherboard supports. Actually, why are RAID disk arrays used? Here it is worth paying attention to the fact that in the direction of the development of technologies (with respect to hard drives), they have long stood still at one point (spindle rotation speed of 7200 rpm, cache size, etc.). An exception in this regard are only SSD models, but they also mainly produce only an increase in volume. At the same time, in the production of processors or RAM strips, progress is more tangible. Thus, due to the use of RAID-arrays, an increase in productivity gains is achieved when accessing hard drives.
RAID disk arrays: types, purpose
As for the arrays themselves, they can be conditionally divided by the numbering used (0, 1, 2, etc.). Each such number corresponds to the performance of one of the declared functions.
The main in this classification are disk arrays with numbers 0 and 1 (it will be understood why), since they are the main tasks assigned to them.
When creating arrays with connecting several hard drives, you should initially use the BIOS settings, where the RAID value is set in the SATA configuration section. It is important to note that mapped drives must have absolutely identical parameters in terms of volume, interface, connection, cache, etc.
RAID 0 (Striping)
Zero disk arrays are essentially designed to speed up access to stored information (write or read). They, as a rule, can have in conjunction from two to four hard drives.
But here the main problem is that when you delete information on one of the disks, it disappears on the other. Information is written in the form of blocks in turn on each drive, and the increase in productivity is directly proportional to the number of hard drives (that is, four drives are twice as fast as two). But the loss of information is only due to the fact that the blocks can be on different disks, although the user in the same "Explorer" sees the files in normal display.
RAID 1
Disk arrays with a single designation belong to the category of Mirroring (mirror image) and are used to save data by duplication.
Roughly speaking, in this state of affairs, the user loses some performance, but can be sure that when data disappears from one section, it will be saved in another.
RAID 2 and higher
Arrays with numbers 2 and higher have a dual purpose. On the one hand, they are designed to record information, on the other hand, they are used to correct errors.
In other words, disk arrays of this type combine the capabilities of RAID 0 and RAID 1, but are not particularly popular among computer scientists, although their work is based on the use of the Hamming code.
What is better to use in practice?
Of course, if you intend to use resource-intensive programs, such as modern games, on your computer, it is better to use RAID 0 arrays. If you are working with important information that needs to be saved in any way, you will have to turn to RAID 1 arrays due to the fact that the numbers two and above did not become popular, their use is determined solely by the desire of the user. By the way, the use of zero arrays is also practical if the user often downloads multimedia files to the computer, say, movies or music with high bitrate for MP3 format or in the FLAC standard.
The rest will have to rely on their own preferences and needs. The application of this or that array will depend on this. And, of course, when installing the bundle, it is better to give preference to SSD disks, since in comparison with ordinary hard drives they already initially have higher read and write speeds. But they must be absolutely identical in their characteristics and parameters, otherwise the connected combination simply will not work. And this is one of the most important conditions. So you have to pay attention to this aspect.