Comments on: What Photographers Don’t Understand About RAID. http://photographyconnect.com/2010/01/what-photographers-dont-understand-about-raid Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:04:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: carlos benjamin http://photographyconnect.com/2010/01/what-photographers-dont-understand-about-raid/comment-page-1#comment-165 carlos benjamin Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:51:39 +0000 http://photographyconnect.com/?p=640#comment-165 Technically, RAID is a term that encompasses several configurations. RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives) can be as simple as two drives mirroring one another. In that case you generally don't get any speed benefit. There are also RAID arrays that stripe your data across a group of drives (for speed). Some stripe arrangements also have a parity drive so that if you lose a single drive the data can be reconstructed once that drive is replaced. Both mirrored and striped arrays with parity do protect against a failed drive. That's their primary purpose - either to keep you running or get you back running ASAPP in the event of a single drive failure. What no RAID system can do is protect against data loss or corruption due to anything other than a single drive failure. This is why they are not backup systems. A backup system preserves your data whereas RAID keeps you running in case of a minor equipment failure (which would be a major equipment failure if all your eggs were in that single basket). Technically, RAID is a term that encompasses several configurations. RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives) can be as simple as two drives mirroring one another. In that case you generally don’t get any speed benefit. There are also RAID arrays that stripe your data across a group of drives (for speed). Some stripe arrangements also have a parity drive so that if you lose a single drive the data can be reconstructed once that drive is replaced. Both mirrored and striped arrays with parity do protect against a failed drive. That’s their primary purpose – either to keep you running or get you back running ASAPP in the event of a single drive failure.

What no RAID system can do is protect against data loss or corruption due to anything other than a single drive failure. This is why they are not backup systems. A backup system preserves your data whereas RAID keeps you running in case of a minor equipment failure (which would be a major equipment failure if all your eggs were in that single basket).

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