Selecting A Raid Level; Raid 0 - Data Striping; Figure 1. Raid 0 - Data Striping; Table 1. Raid 0 Overview - Intel AFCSASRISER User Manual

Selecting a RAID Level

To ensure the best performance, select the optimal RAID level when the system drive is
created. The optimal RAID level for a disk array depends on a number of factors:

RAID 0 - Data Striping

RAID 0 provides disk striping across all drives in the RAID array. RAID 0 does not provide
any data redundancy, but does offer the best performance of any RAID level. RAID 0 breaks
up data into smaller segments, and then stripes the data segments across each drive in the
array. The size of each data segment is determined by the stripe size. RAID 0 offers high
bandwidth.
Note: RAID level 0 is not fault tolerant. If a drive in a RAID 0 array fails, the whole virtual disk (all
physical drives associated with the virtual disk) will fail.
By breaking up a large file into smaller segments, the RAID controller can use both SAS drive
and SATA drives to read or write the file faster. RAID 0 involves no parity calculations to
complicate the write operation. This makes RAID 0 ideal for applications that require high
bandwidth but do not require fault tolerance.
10
•
The number of physical drives in the disk array
•
The capacity of the physical drives in the array
•
The need for data redundancy
•
The disk performance requirements
RAID Adapter
Uses
that does not require fault tolerance.
Provides increased data throughput for large files. No capacity loss penalty
Strong Points
for parity.
Does not provide fault tolerance or high bandwidth. If any drive fails, all data
Weak Points
is lost.
Drives
1 to 32
RAID 0
ABCDEF
Available Capacity
N=# disks
C = Disk Capacity
Available Capacity = N*C

Figure 1. RAID 0 - Data Striping

Table 1. RAID 0 Overview

Provides high data throughput, especially for large files. Any environment
A B
C D
E F
Data Striping
RAID 0
®
Intel RAID Software User's Guide