Users Guide

RAID 10 characteristics:
• Groups n disks as one large virtual disk with a capacity of (n/2) disks, where n is an even integer.
• Mirror images of the data are striped across sets of physical disks. This level provides redundancy through mirroring.
• When a disk fails, the virtual disk still works. The data is read from the surviving mirrored disk.
• Improved read performance and write performance.
• Redundancy for protection of data.
Comparing RAID Level Performance
The following table compares the performance characteristics associated with the more common RAID levels. This table provides general
guidelines for choosing a RAID level. Evaluate your specific environment requirements before choosing a RAID level.
Table 25. RAID Level Performance Comparison
RAID Level Data Availability Read
Performance
Write
Performance
Rebuild
Performance
Minimum Disks
Required
Suggested
Uses
RAID 0 None Very Good Very Good N/A N Noncritical data.
RAID 1 Excellent Very Good Good Good 2N (N = 1) Small databases,
database logs,
and critical
information.
RAID 5 Good Sequential reads:
good.
Transactional
reads: Very good
Fair, unless using
writeback cache
Fair N + 1 (N = at least
two disks)
Databases and
other read
intensive
transactional
uses.
RAID 10 Excellent Very Good Fair Good 2N x X Data intensive
environments
(large records).
RAID 50 Good Very Good Fair Fair N + 2 (N = at
least 4)
Medium sized
transactional or
Managing Storage Devices 173