RAID, Redundant Array of Independent Disks (also called Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) is a method of logically combining two or more physical disks into one storage (logical) unit, the advantages are speed up hard disk performance and redundancy (protection automatic protection against data loss). in case of hard drive failure). This array of drives appears as a single drive to the computer’s operating system.

What level of RAID technology do I need?

There are several types of RAID in use called RAID levels. Commonly used levels are RAID 0 to RAID 6. Level 0 and level 1 are common in home or business desktop PCs.

RAID 0

RAID 0 is not a true RAID because it has no redundancy (automatic protection in case of disk failure). RAID 0 is actually a stripped drive, which spreads data across two drives so that it can be read or written quickly. For example, to write a large file, instead of writing to a single drive, it is much faster to split the data and write to multiple drives simultaneously. As we read, we can pull data from all drives in parallel. In theory, the performance of the hard drive is doubled, but there are some issues and overheads involved, so the gain is not always doubled. RAID 0 increases the chances of data loss because any hard drive failure will result in loss of all data on both drives.

Use RAID 0 to speed up hard drive performance, not for mission-critical data storage.

RAID 1

Tier 1 is also called a mirror, best for redundancy because each hard drive in the array is an exact copy or mirror of the second drive. Your system will simultaneously write the same file or data to both or all drives in the array. Level 1 provides little to no performance gains. Some data read gains are available if your controller can read from both drives (just like level 0). It is best for automatic protection in case of physical hard drive failure.

Use RAID 1 to reduce the risk of data loss due to hard drive failure.

Deployments and configuration

For deployment, you need a controller card and two physical hard drives (not two partitions on a single drive). Most mid-range motherboards have a built-in RAID controller card that supports RAID levels 0 and 1. Check your motherboard documentation or just check the BIOS settings in the integrated peripherals section.

Step by step instructions:

1. Make sure your motherboard supports RAID 0 or RAID 1, the integrated disk drive controller is enabled, and it works in RAID mode.
2. If the built-in controller is not available, install a controller card available for less than $100 at most computer stores.
3. Install two physical hard drives, they can be different in size and manufacturer.
4. Turn on your computer, enter BIOS setup and make sure both hard drives are available and detected by BIOS setup.
5. Launch BIOS setup, go to integrated peripherals and make sure the SATA or IDE controller is enabled and in RAID mode.
6. If you are using a controller card, please skip step 5. Also, make sure your hard drives data cables are connected to the RAID controller card and not to the motherboard.
7. Save the changes you have made to the BIOS and restart the PC.
8. Step 8 varies from computer to computer, but generally during the computer boot process, you need to press Ctrl+J or Ctrl+I keys for RAID setup. Just follow the messages on the screen.
9. From the RAID settings menu, choose RAID 1 or RAID 0 as desired and select the drives and space you want to allocate to them.
10. The exact procedure varies slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer, but it’s easy to follow, just read your card or motherboard manufacturer’s documentation in case of problems.
11. Your RAID is ready; you can install the operating system. The array of two or more drives will appear as a single volume to computer operating systems.