RAID :

Redundant array of Independent Disks.

RAID works on having a large disk array comprising an arrangement of several independent disks
that are organized to improve reliability and at the same time increase performance.

Performance is increased through data striping (the data is segmented into equal-size partitions) which
are transparently distributed across multiple disks. Reliability is improved through storing redundant
information across the disks using a parity scheme or an error-correcting scheme.

There are a number of different disk configurations with RAID, termed RAID levels:

 RAID 0 – Non-redundant: This level maintains no redundant data and so has the best write
performance since updates do not have to be replicated.

Data striping is performed at the level of blocks.

In this level, a striped array of disks is implemented. The data is broken down into blocks and the
blocks are distributed among disks.

Each disk receives a block of data to write/read in parallel.

It enhances the speed and performance of the storage device. There is no parity and backup in Level
0.

Data striping: segmenting logically sequential data, such as a file, so that consecutive segments are
stored on different physical storage devices.

RAID 1 – Mirrored: This level maintains (mirrors) two identical copies of the data across different
disks.

To maintain consistency in the presence of disk failure, writes may not be performed simultaneously.

This is the most expensive storage solution.

RAID 1 uses mirroring techniques. When data is sent to a RAID controller, it sends a copy of data to
all the disks in the array. RAID level 1 is also called mirroring and provides 100% redundancy in
case of a failure.
RAID 2 - Memory-Style Error-Correcting Codes:

RAID 2 records Error Correction Code using Hamming distance for its data, striped on different
disks.

Like level 0, each data bit in a word is recorded on a separate disk and ECC codes of the data
words are stored on different set disks.

Due to its complex structure and high cost, RAID 2 is not commercially available.

With this level, the striping unit is a single bit and Hamming codes are used as the redundancy
scheme.

Hamming code is an error correction system that can detect and correct errors when data is
stored or transmitted.

RAID 3

Bit-Interleaved Parity

Stripes the data onto multiple disks. The parity bit generated for data word is stored on a different
disk. This technique makes it to overcome single disk failures.

Bit-Interleaved Parity: This level provides redundancy by storing parity information on a single
disk in the array.

This parity information can be used to recover the data on other disks should they fail. This
level uses less storage space than RAID 1 but the parity disk can become a bottleneck

Parity is a calculated value that's used to restore data from the other drives if one of the
drives in the set fails. It determines the number of odd and even bits in a number, and this
information is used to reconstruct data if a sequence of numbers is lost, which is the case if one of the
disks fail.
used in serial communications to determine if the data character being transmitted is correctly
received by the remote device.

Example parity checking process

The receiving computer computes the parity: 1+0+0+0+1+1 = 3. It then performs 3 modulo 2 (the
remainder of 3 divided by 2), expecting the result 0 which would indicate that the number is even.
Instead, it receives the result 3 modulo 2 = 1, indicating that the number is odd.

It is used to validate the integrity of the data. The value of the parity bit is assigned either 0 or 1 that
makes the number of 1s in the message block either even or odd depending upon the type of parity.
Parity check is suitable for single bit error detection only.

RAID 4

Block-Interleaved Parity

In this level, an entire block of data is written onto data disks and then the parity is generated and
stored on a different disk. Note that level 3 uses byte-level striping, whereas level 4 uses blocklevel
striping. Both level 3 and level 4 require at least three disks to implement RAID.

With this level, the striping unit is a disk block – a parity block is maintained on a separate disk for
corresponding blocks from a number of other disks. If one of the disks fails, the parity block can be
used with the corresponding blocks from the other disks to restore the blocks of the failed disk.
RAID 5

– Block-Interleaved Distributed Parity

RAID 5 writes whole data blocks onto different disks, but the parity bits generated for data block
stripe are distributed among all the data disks rather than storing them on a different dedicated disk.

RAID 6

RAID 6 is an extension of level 5. In this level, two independent parities are generated and stored in
distributed fashion among multiple disks. Two parities provide additional fault tolerance. This
level requires at least four disk drives to implement RAID.