LaCie FIREWIRE 800/400 Understanding RAID, Raid, Recommended Uses, Characteristics and Advantages

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LaCie Biggest Quadra	Understanding RAID
User Manual	page 16

3. Understanding RAID

Your LaCie Biggest Quadra is shipped with a pre- configured RAID level of 5, but it supports four dif- ferent RAID levels: 0, 0 + 1, 5 and 5 + Hot Spare. This section will help you decide which RAID level is right for you.

3.1. RAID 0

Striped Disk Array Without Fault Tolerance

Also called striping, this level offers high transfer rates and is ideal for large blocks of data where speed is of the utmost importance. RAID 0 implements a striped disk array, where all of the hard disks are linked together to form one large aggregate hard disk. In this configuration, data is broken down into blocks and each block is written to a separate disk drive within the array; I/O performance is greatly improved by spreading the I/ O load across several drives. In this array, however, when one disk fails, all of the data on the array is lost.

Storage capacity is determined by the smallest disk in the array, and the smallest disk’s capacity is applied to all of the other disks in the array. So, for instance, if you had four disks installed, ranging in capacity from 40GB to 80GB, when the RAID 0 array is built your system will see one, 160GB (40GB x 4) hard disk.

While this is a very simple and easily implemented design, RAID 0 should never be used in mission criti- cal environments. When even just one disk in the array fails, all of the data on the entire array will be lost.

■Recommended Uses

❖Video production and editing

❖Image editing

❖Pre-press applications

❖Applications requiring high-bandwidth

■Characteristics and Advantages

❖Data is broken down into blocks and each block is written to a separate disk drive

❖I/O performance improved by spreading the load across multiple drives

❖Overhead is lowered due to no calculations for parity

❖Simple design and easily implemented

This diagram represents a

	E	RAID 0 array, consisting of
	E	four disks, which are
	D	four disks, which are
	D	connected to the Controller.
	C	Data blocks are distributed

Bacross all of the disks in the

A array.

CONTROLLER

	A	B	C	D	Fig. 3.1.
	E	F	G	H	Fig. 3.1.
	E	F	G	H
	I	J	K	L
	M	N	O	Etc...

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Contents Biggest Quadra Table of Contents Maintaining Your LaCie Biggest Quadra Trademarks CopyrightsChanges FCC StatementGeneral Use Precautions Health and Safety PrecautionsLaCie Biggest Quadra Forward Introduction to the LaCie Biggest Quadra Biggest Quadra FeaturesMinimum System Requirements About the LaCie Biggest QuadraWindows Users Mac UsersYour LaCie hard drive package should contain the following Package ContentSpecifications Front View Views of the DriveRear View FireWire 400 and 800 Cables and Connectors Cables and ConnectorsUSB Icons Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Cables and ConnectorsHi-Speed USB 2.0 Benefits USB 2.0 CablesESATA Cables ESATA Cables and ConnectorsESATA Icons To unlock a drive tray Drive Tray LocksTo lock a drive tray Understanding RAID Characteristics and AdvantagesRAID Recommended UsesHigh Data Transfer Performance RAID 0 +Controller RAID 5 + Hot Spare Setting Setting Up Your LaCie Biggest QuadraExample Setting the RAID LevelRAID 5 + Hot Spare RAIDRAID 0 + Initializing the Disks Creating an ArrayOn next To initialize the disks in your arrayLaCie Biggest Quadra Setting Up the Biggest Quadra 2.A Managing Volumes over 2TB in WindowsConnecting to a Host Computer 1.A Connecting to the Host Computer via FireWireConnecting to the Host Computer via Hi-Speed USB Connecting to the Host Computer via eSATA YY/MM/DD Hhmm Setting the LCD Display Time & DateInitialize Formatting and Partitioning1.C Mac Users Disk Status and Activity Indicators Using the LaCie Biggest QuadraLCD Display Message Message Cleared When LCD Display MessagesInitialization Messages Rebuild Messages Dx RebuildRAID Failure Messages LCD Display Message Cleared When Failure and Error MessagesDisk Failure Message LCD Display Message Cleared When Fan Failure Message LCD Display Message Cleared WhenRAID and Disk Status Messages Overheating Error Message LCD Display Message Cleared WhenPower On LCD Display Message Message Cleared When Ready LCD Display Message Message Cleared When RAID and Disk Information MessagesRAID Level LCD Display Message Message Cleared When Disk Information LCD Display Message Message Cleared WhenSerial Number LCD Display Message Message Cleared When Firmware Version LCD Display Message Message Cleared WhenRemoving/Replacing a Drive Firmware UpdatesMaintaining Your LaCie Biggest Quadra File System Formats Technical InformationUse Ntfs if FATUse FAT 32 if Use HFS+ ifOptimizing Data Transfers Available Storage CapacityFireWire 800 Ports and Performance Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Ports and Performance What Are The Benefits Of The FireWire Inter- faces? FireWire Questions & AnswersWhat Are The Ideal Uses For FireWire? What Does Ieee 1394 Mean?What Do I Do If My Computer Does Not Have a FireWire Port? USB Questions & Answers LaCie Biggest Quadra USB Questions & Answers ESATA Questions & Answers What is eSATA?What are the ideal uses of Serial ATA? Problem Possible Solutions TroubleshootingManual Updates Example Contacting Customer Support Information Where to Find InformationBefore You Contact Technical Support Information to Include in Email CorrespondenceLaCie Technical Support Contacts Warranty Information