What Is RAID
RAID (Redundant Arrays of
Independent Drives) is a technology that combines multiple drives into a drive
array with huge capacity. It will utilize multiple drives to improve the
performance of the drive array.
RAID can be divided into three types: external disk array cabinet
(so-called hardware RAID), internal disk array card (so-called
hardware-assisted RAID), and software simulation (so-called software RAID).
Generally speaking, hardware RAID is better than hardware-assisted RIAD,
which is also better than software RAID.
Hardware RAID has a RAID card mounted with a RAID controller, a
special I/O processing chip, and an array buffer. These devices make hardware
RAID has the best performance. However, hardware RAID is usually applied in
servers because it is expensive.
Hardware-assisted RAID has a RAID card and drivers provided by
manufacturers. Compared with hardware RAID, it lacks a special I/O processing
chip. Thus, it will occupy the CPU resources. Besides, this RAID is only
suitable for RAID 0 and RAID 1.
Software RAID doesn’t have any hardware. It combines multiple
drives into a logical volume only through Disk Management feature provided by the operating system. Compared with hardware RAID, software RAID will reduce the
performance of the disk subsystem by 30%.
How to create Windows software RAID? Here is a tutorial.
Step 1: Press "Windows + R" keys and type "diskmgmt.msc" in Run box to open Disk Management.
Step 2: Right-click the whole disk to convert it from basic disk to
dynamic disk. Right-click unallocated space and choose "New * Volume"("*"
can be "Striped", "Mirrored", or "RAID-5").
If you want to convert dynamic
disk to basic disk, please click here
to get a tutorial.
Through the above method, you
can create a software RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5.
RAID 0 is also called striped volume. It combines at least two
drives into a big volume. It not only increases the capacity of the disk, but also
improves its read and write performance.
RAID 1 is also called mirrored volume. It also needs at least two
drives (usually an even number). It makes a disk back up the data on another
disk so that the data security can be ensured. However, the usable space is
only half of the disk array.
RAID 5 needs at least three drives. It will access data and parity
check information crosswise on all drives. The reading speed of RAID 5
approaches that of RAID 0. However, the writing speed of RAID 5 is slower than
that of a single disk.
What Are Windows Storage Spaces
Storage
Spaces is a Windows built-in technology. Users can utilize this technology
to group multiple drives together into a storage pool and then use the capacity
of the pool to create virtual drives named storage spaces.
How to use Windows 10 storage spaces? Here is a tutorial.
Step 1: Type "manage storage spaces" in the Windows
search box. Click Manage Storage Spaces button to open it. Then, click
"Create a new pool and storage space".
Note: When users create a
storage pool with formatted drives, data loss will occur. Please back up data
in advance, otherwise, prepare for data recovery.
Step 2: Choose a file system: NTFS or ReFS. Choose resiliency type:
Simple (no resiliency), Two-way mirror, Three-way mirror, or Parity.
Windows 10 Storage Spaces vs. RAID
Windows 10 storage spaces
feature can also realize software RAID to some extent. However, Windows
Storage Spaces has some difference from RAID and we can't say that it is
inferior to RAID. Let's see the difference between Windows 10 Storage Spaces vs.
RAID.
Sockets
Hardware RAID and
hardware-assisted RAID have socket limitation. The number of sockets is
determined by the physical RAID controller mounted on the RAID card. However,
Windows 10 Storage Spaces and software RAID doesn't have this limitation.
Management
Operating system treats RAID as
one disk. If the disks in hardware RAID have different storage capacities,
space-wasting will occur. On the other hand, Windows 10 Storage Spaces will not
cause this problem because the operating system can still manage single drives. In
addition, Windows 10 Storage Spaces has ReFS, which can make users avoid data
verification.
Performance
As for reading and write speed, the
sequential reading/writing speed of RAID 0 is approximately twice that of
Storage Spaces simple mode. The sequential reading speed of RAID 1 is slightly
faster than that of Storage Spaces two-way mirror mode. But the sequential
writing speed of RAID 1 is approximately half that of Storage Spaces two-way
mirror mode.
In addition, the
reading/writing speed in the Storage Spaces parity mode will be much slower
than that in hardware RAID 5. However, Windows Storage Spaces still has its
advantages such as no fee and data protection. Users can try it. And if users
are using SSD, Storage Spaces are recommended.
If you want to know more
details about their differences, please click Windows
10 Storage Spaces vs. RAID: Differences and Data Protection to get the
original post.
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