A guide to various configurable RAID array types
Introduction to RAID Arrays and Types
As the administrator of your ggRock system, you must decide based on multiple facets which RAID type your array will be built with.
If data security is of utmost importance, one of RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, or RAID 7 is the best choice.
If performance is of the utmost importance, SingleDrive is the best choice.
Stripe Type: RAID 0 - SingleDrive
Disks: One
Striping: None
Benefits: Simplicity
Fault Tolerance: None
Capacity: Total of one drive
Choose SingleDrive only if your data is unimportant due to other factors such as frequent backups, etc.
Stripe Type: RAID 1 - Mirrored
Disks: Multiple
Striping: None (Mirroring)
Benefits: Full fault tolerance, read speed increases with every drive added
Fault Tolerance: Full copy of all data on every drive, so as long as at least one drive survives, all data will be preserved
Capacity: Size of the smallest disk
Choose RAID 1 if your data is of the utmost importance and you have the ability to add numerous drives to your array to make up for capacity limitations.
Stripe Type: RAID 10 - Mirrored and Striped
Disks: Multiple (Even Number)
Striping: Data is striped across all drives
Benefits: Full fault tolerance, read speed increases with every drive added
Fault Tolerance: Data is mirrored for fault tolerance
Capacity: Half the capacity of all disks
Choose RAID 10 if your data is of the utmost importance and you have the ability to add numerous drives to your array to make up for capacity limitations, but would also prefer the performance benefits from a reading and writing perspective that data striping affords.
Stripe Type: RAID 5/RAID-Z - Striping with Distributed Parity
Disks: Multiple (must be at least three)
Striping: Spread across a disk together with a parity separate parity block.
Benefits: You can lose any single disk in the array and still have no loss of data through calculating missing blocks.
Fault Tolerance: Single disk
Capacity: Number of Disks - 1
Choose RAID 5 if your data is important.
Stripe Type: RAID 6/RAID-Z2 - Striping + Distributed Double Parity
Disks: Multiple (must be at least three)
Striping: Spread across a disk together with a parity separate parity block.
Benefits: You can lose any two disks in the array and still have no loss of data through calculating missing blocks.
Fault Tolerance: Double disk
Capacity: Number of disks - 2
Choose RAID 6 if your data is very important.
Stripe Type: RAID 7/RAID-Z3 - Striping + Triple Parity
Disks: Multiple (must be at least four)
Striping: Spread across a disk together with a parity separate parity block.
Benefits: You can lose any two disks in the array and still have no loss of data through calculating missing blocks.
Fault Tolerance: Triple disk
Capacity: Number of disks - 3
Choose RAID 7 if your data is extremely important.
ggRock RAID Configuration
ggRock combines all of your drives into a single storage unit known as a pool.
The functionality of pools for storage permits ggRock to make the best use of various capabilities of the storage you have installed in your server.
Please refer to the Configure ggRock Array section of the ggRock Installation Manual for further information on RAID configurations available within ggRock.