Appendix A: Understanding RAID 50

RAID 1 Arrays

A RAID 1 array is built from two disk drives, where one disk drive is a mirror of the other (the same data is stored on each disk drive). Compared to independent disk drives, RAID 1 arrays provide improved performance, with twice the read rate and an equal write rate of single disks. However, capacity is only 50 percent of independent disk drives.

If the RAID 1 array is built from different-sized disk drives, the free space, drive segment size is the size of the smaller disk drive, as shown in the following figure.

 

 

Drive Segment Size (Smaller Disk Drive)

Disk Drive 1

250 GB

 

 

 

 

Disk Drive 1

1 – 250

Disk Drive 2

400 GB

Disk Drive 2

1 – 250

 

 

Unused Space: 150 GB

Not Used

Disk Drives in Logical Drive

RAID 1 Logical Drive = 250 GB

RAID 10 Arrays

A RAID 10 array is built from two or more equal-sized RAID 1 arrays. Adaptec RAID controllers support a maximum number of 48 disk drives in a RAID 10 array.

Data in a RAID 10 array is both striped and mirrored. Mirroring provides data protection, and striping improves performance.

Drive segment size is limited to the size of the smallest disk drive in the array. For instance, an array with two 250 GB disk drives and two 400 GB disk drives can create two mirrored drive segments of 250 GB, for a total of 500 GB for the array, as shown in the following figure.

Disk Drive 1

Drive Segment Size (Smallest Disk Drive)

 

250 GB

 

 

 

Disk Drive 2

 

 

 

 

 

250 GB

 

 

 

 

Disk Drive 1

1

3 ...

499

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disk Drive 3

Disk Drive 2 2

4 ...

500

400 GB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disk Drive 3

1

3 ...

499

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not Used

Unused Space: 150 GB

 

 

 

 

Disk Drive 4

Disk Drive 4

2

4 ...

500

 

 

400 GB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unused Space: 150 GB

Not Used

Disk Drives in Logical Drive

RAID 10 Logical Drive = 500 GB

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Adaptec ATA II 1420SA, ATA II 1220SA, ATA II 1430SA manual RAID 1 Arrays, RAID 10 Arrays