Dell Dimension 9200 - Manual (Page 38)

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Optimizing Performance
RAID Level 0 Configuration
NOTICE:
Because RAID level 0 configurations provide no data redundancy, a failure of one drive results in the loss
of all data (the data on the remaining drive is also inaccessible). Therefore, ensure that you perform regular
backups when you use a RAID level 0 configuration.
A RAID level 0 configuration uses a storage technique known as data striping to provide a high data
access rate. Data striping is a method of writing consecutive segments, or stripes, of data sequentially
across the physical drives to create a large virtual drive. Data striping allows one of the drives to read data
while the other drive is searching for and reading the next block.
Another advantage of a RAID level 0 configuration is that it utilizes the full storage capacities of the
drives. For example, two 120-GB drives combine to provide 240 GB of hard drive space on which to store
data.
NOTE:
In a RAID level 0 configuration, the size of the configuration is equal to the size of the smallest drive
multiplied by the number of drives in the configuration.
RAID Level 1 Configuration
A RAID level 1 configuration uses a data-redundancy storage technique known as mirroring to enhance
data integrity. When data is written to the primary drive, the data is also duplicated, or mirrored, on the
second drive in the configuration. RAID level 1 sacrifices high data-access rates for its data redundancy
advantages.
hard drive 1
segment 1
segment 3
segment 5
hard drive 2
segment 2
segment 4
segment 6
serial ATA RAID
configured for
RAID level 0
DIM_book.book Page 38 Monday, October 15, 2007 11:04 AM