How Traditional RAID Compares with BeyondRAID
How Traditional RAID Compares with BeyondRAID
Traditional RAID data arrays have been the standard in data storage and access and storage capability since the late 1980s. But RAID has been joined by a more recent technology called BeyondRAID. BeyondRAID consolidates up to 10 SATA drives into a single storage pool. It uses data storage techniques that are similar to RAID 1 and RAID 5 and offers some intriguing advantages compared to traditional RAID configurations. The storage capacity for BeyondRAID is roughly equal to the total capacity of all the disks minus the storage capacity of the largest disk in the array.
Here's an overview of both technologies.
RAID arrays
RAID arrays are comprised of a series of disk drives that combine together to work as a single storage medium. The goal of RAID data storage is to improve the speed and reliability of your data storage and access. There are numerous RAID levels and each has its own strengths and weaknesses.
The best RAID levels work very well but have a couple of significant limitations.
1. The drives in the array must all have the same capacity.
Your RAID array can only use an amount of storage equal to that of the smallest drive in the array, so using multiple sized disks wastes storage capacity.
2. You can't change the RAID level without destroying and rebuilding the entire array.
Changing the RAID level requires that you back up all your data, tear down the original set, build the new set and then reload all the data. This obviously takes a significant amount of time and effort and is risky from the point of view of data loss.
BeyondRAID
Beyond RAID offers some significant advantages that allow you to work around the limitations of a standard RAID configuration. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages.
Disk order makes no difference.
In most RAID systems, to move the array, you must remove and replace the drives in the same order. BeyondRAID simplifies the process since the disk order doesn't matter.
Size doesn't matter.
BeyondRAID lets you use drives of varying sizes, so you aren't limited to the storage capacity of the smallest drive. Unfortunately, however, the system still needs enough storage capacity to withstand the loss of the largest drive in the array.
Change protection levels with the click of a mouse.
You can change from single to dual drive protection by simply clicking the mouse, provided you have sufficient disk space.
You can replace any disk at any time.
BeyondRAID lets you swap disks at any time and allows you add larger disks to add to your storage volume. In some cases you can even gain immediate access to the new storage space. You can upgrade on the fly by hot swapping a current drive for one with greater capacity and performance capability.
You need more than two drives to reap the maximum benefit.
With only two drives on the system, BeyondRAID is similar to a RAID 1 array, simply two mirrored drives. As you add more disks, you begin to gain the benefits of the BeyondRAID system.
Proportional rebuild times.
The amount of time that it takes to do a rebuild is dependent on how much data is on the disk.
User friendly.
BeyondRAID effectively manage themselves once they are set up and running, rather than requiring an administrator to do most of the work.
Data location awareness.
BeyondRAID keeps track of where the data is stored on each drive which allows it to rebuild and recover more quickly after a drive failure. This allows you to get the array back up to full speed more quickly and minimize the chance of additional RAID data loss.
Automatic self-healing.
BeyondRAID lets the administrator know if a drive is about to fail and tries to work around bad sectors on the drive. This saves time and gives you some warning before you have to replace the bad drive.
In the end, the data storage system you use has to be well suited to your particular needs. Your data is precious, particularly if you run a business and depend on that data to make your living. It makes sense to take your time and consult a professional when it comes to choosing a strategy for storing the data for your computer system. Both RAID and BeyondRAID offer unique advantages and they both have some disadvantages as well. Taking the time to understand and decide what's right for you can really pay off in the long run, otherwise you could end up needing a data recovery service to help you salvage your data and recovery from the incorrect decision.
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