User manual

FIBRE-to-SAS/SATA RAID SUBSYSTEM
User Manual
67
Chapter 6 RAID Management
This chapter describes the available RAID Management tasks; these tasks may be
selected from the RAID Functions in the left frame of the proRAID Manager screen. The
following RAID Management options are available:
¾ Create RAID Set
¾ View RAID Set
¾ Modify/Delete RAID Set
¾ Expand RAID Set
¾ Rebuild RAID Set
¾ Verify RAID Set
¾ Create Hot Spare
¾ Delete Hot Spare
¾ View Hot Spares
¾ RAID Ownership
6.1 About RAID
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. A RAID system consists of two
or more disks in parallel. This array of disks appears as one disk drive to the host
computer offering enhanced performance or data reliability or both.
There are different RAID Levels with each level being suited to a particular application.
For example, RAID Level 1 uses mirroring to hold your data in 2 separate but identical
locations. If a disk fails the RAID controller will use either the data disk(s) or the mirror
disk(s) for data recovery giving you constant access to your data. This RAID Level is
particularly suited to mission critical applications such as accounting systems.
6.1.1 RAID Considerations
When implementing a RAID system, there are a number of things you need to consider:
; How many disks are available for RAID?
; What RAID level is required?
; What Spare Drive strategy do you want to implement?