Understanding The Array Selection Criteria - Adaptec 2110S User Manual

Adaptec Storage Manager Pro User's Guide

Understanding the Array Selection Criteria

To help you choose an array type, use the criteria in the following
table. Decide how important each criterion is to meeting your data
management and storage needs.
Criteria Definition
Random-read Ability to locate and read
performance data directly from a file
without having to search
sequentially from the
beginning of the file.
Random-write Ability to write data directly
performance to a file without having to
search sequentially from the
beginning of the file.
Sequential- Ability to read large numbers
read of consecutive data elements.
performance
Sequential- Ability to write large
write numbers of consecutive data
performance elements.
Fault Ability to recover from a
tolerance failure of one or more drives
without interrupting user or
application access to data.
Expansion Ability of the system to
increase the available storage
capacity for the operating
system's file system.
Load Ability to spread I/O across
balancing drives.
Cost per Ability to use all space in an
usable unit of array to store user data.
space (Unusable space includes
parity in a RAID 5 set and the
redundant half of a mirror
set.)
B-8
Examples
Databases, transaction
processing programs,
and operating system
page file
Databases, transaction
processing programs,
and operating system
page file
Streaming video
programs and backup/
restore programs
Streaming video
programs and backup/
restore programs
Whenever data is more
important than the cost
of storing it
Most systems require
expansion capabilities
to meet growing data
storage needs.
All I/O-intensive
applications benefit
from load balancing.
N/A