RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks

If a typical home user wants more storage options, either choosing a larger hard drive or adding a second drive will be adequate. Someone who uses their PC for audio/video editing or who works with other types of demanding applications should seriously consider a RAID set up. We offer two types of RAID, one to increase Hard Drive performance and the other to act as a back up option.

Though a back up solution is always recommended, with RAID 0 it is a must. It does not protect you from hard disk failure and it can be looked at as doubling the chances of a problem. We suggest using an independent drive or a RAID 1 array for Windows and back up the two drives in RAID 0 for data.


Assume that both Hard Drives have no data on them
'A' is a word Document
RAID 0
A
RAID 1
A
   
   
1/2 A              1/2 A
A                   A
                             Duplicate



  
 
RAID 0 (performance)
RAID 1 (Data Mirror)
Also Refered To As
Data Striping
Data Mirroring
Total storage using 2 x 120GB Hard Drives the
PC will 'see'
240GB
120GB
How It Works
The RAID controller splits the
data in to two streams, sending
each half to a different drive.

RAID 0 is suited to performance
users especially those who work
with large files.
The RAID controller writes the
same data to two drives hence duplicating it and creating two
separate copies.

Raid 1 is suited to the user who
needs failsafe storage for
important data
Pros
Will improve performance and
allow your PC to save and access
files faster than one larger drive.

Provides very noticeable gains in
installing and copying files and data.

The read times of large files can be
upto half that of a RAID 1 set up
Will improve read performance
over one drive but not to the
extent RAID 0 does

In the event of a hard drive
failure your data will be safe on
the other drive.
Cons
Provides no redundancy

Back up is highly reccomended
as one disk failure will make
recovering data very hard
Does not offer the performance
gains of RAID 0

Due to duplication write speed
can suffer
Recommended
Applications
Video production and editing
Audio production and editing
Pre-Press applications
Accountancy
Payroll
Other Personel