Exactly What Is Raid As Well As Why It Should Be Thought Of In A Backup Strategy

Anyone who has ever looked into their computer backup method in any critical way will no doubt have heard of RAID. Essentially, RAID (an acronym originally meaning Redundant Array of Inexpensive hard disks) is a term used to describe an association of hard drives in which quite a few drives are configured to work as one. This can be done in a number of ways, resulting in a system which is more capable in one way or another. For example, RAID 0 (also known as striping) involves splitting information and creating on half on one drive, and half on another. This will increase the overall performance of the drives, but will increase the chance of losing data, as when one hard drive fails, the information on the other turns into useless.

For users interested in keeping trustworthy backups, there is RAID 1 (also known as mirroring). In this association, the same information is written to two drives concurrently, and the operating system recognizes the two as a solitary drive. This option final results in a much more compact chance of losing data, as one hard drive failing still leaves the user with the other, which contains exactly the same information. This can be an priceless tool when it comes to backing up your laptop or computer because it is a zero-maintenance solution.

Since the information is written to both drives by the working system, the user doesn't have to manage backup programs, or organize the backup themselves in any way. Once the drives are in RAID, Anything is done automatically and it take the element of human error out of the process. All but the most obsessive laptop or computer users have at some point forgotten to back up information, or done it quite irregularly and therefore been unsure of the last time they have done so. Moreover, automated backup programs leave a gap involving the data being written and then copied, as they are often configured to run once per week, while RAID 1 does it instantly.

Occasionally, users may find that they either need or desire both redundancy (that means multiple drives with the same information) and increased overall performance. For these people, the answer is one of two slightly more complex kinds of RAID, RAID 0+1 or RAID 1 + 0. For these, a minimum of four drives would be necessary, so they are likely only helpful for enthusiasts, but they work in much the same way one would expect after learning about RAID 1 and 0; they create arrays of drives with both the increased speed of RAID 0 and the increased reliability of RAID 1.

Ultimately, for those people for whom keeping backups is an absolute necessity, RAID can be priceless. It is especially good for shared pcs, as no one user is accountable for keeping the backup up-to-date. For simple peace of mind, it can be helpful to have RAID set up so the user can basically forget about backing up and just let it happen. With increased data reliability, less worry, and less time spent organizing data safety, it's no wonder many professionals and fans choose to use RAID as part of their system setups.