Dell Inspiron 531s (Mid 2007) - Manual (Page 43)

Setting Up and Using Your Computer
43
About RAID Configurations (For Windows Vista
®
only)
This section provides an overview of the RAID configuration you may have
selected when you purchased your computer. Your computer supports RAID
level 1. A RAID level 1 is recommended for users that desire a high level of
data integrity.
The drives in a RAID configuration should be the same size in order to ensure
that the larger drive does not contain unallocated (and therefore unusable) space.
RAID Level 1 Configuration
RAID level 1 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. A RAID level 1
configuration sacrifices high data-access rates for its data redundancy advantages.
If a drive failure occurs, subsequent read and write operations are directed to
the surviving drive. A replacement drive can then be rebuilt using the data
from the surviving drive.
NOTE:
In a RAID level 1 configuration, the size of the configuration is equal to the
size of the smallest drive in the configuration.
hard drive 1
segment 1
segment 2
segment 3
hard drive 2
segment 4
segment 5
segment 6
segment 1 duplicated
segment 2 duplicated
segment 3 duplicated
segment 4 duplicated
segment 5 duplicated
segment 6 duplicated
serial ATA RAID
configured for
RAID level 1
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