Tag: Software RAID

RAID Level 0, 1, 5, 6, 10: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Uses

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Ronald Caldwell | Updated: April 24, 2023

Category: Hosting Basics | Tags: Hardware RAID, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID Level, Software RAID

Reading Time: 6 minutes

RAID technology uses a combination of one or more physical drives to create data redundancy and improve performance. From RAID 0 to RAID 10, multiple RAID levels provide different trade-offs between performance, data redundancy, and cost-effectiveness. This article explores RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10, compares software vs hardware RAID implementations, and discusses RAID level advantages and disadvantages as well as their ideal use cases.

Continue reading →

Using SmartCTL With Linux: A Guide

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Dean Conally | Updated: September 14, 2023

Category: Tutorials | Tags: CLI, Commands, Dedicated, Dedicated Server, Disk Usage, Disks, Drives, Fault Tolerance, Hardware RAID, Hybrid RAID, Linux Commands, Logical Volumes, Managed, Mirroring, NAS, Parity, Parity Bits, RAID, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, RAID Card, RAID Controller, RAID Level, RAM, Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, SAN, Smartctl, Software RAID, SSD, Storage

Reading Time: 5 minutes

What is SmartCTL?

Every modern hard drive has an option to monitor its current status and health via SMART attributes. SMART stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology. The SMART test can be performed on your HDD to detect any potential problems with the hardware itself. Tests such as these are run using SmartCTL. According to the Linux man page, SmartCTL is a command-line utility designed to perform SMART tasks. Examples of these tasks would be printing error logs or enabling and disabling automatic SMART testing.

Continue reading →

Hardware RAID vs. Software RAID: A Tutorial

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Katherine Kelly | Updated: May 10, 2023

Category: Tutorials | Tags: Array, Controller, Disk Usage, Disks, Drives, Fault Tolerance, Hardware RAID, High Availability, Hybrid RAID, Logical Volumes, Mirroring, NAS, Parity, Parity Bits, RAID, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, RAID Card, RAID Controller, RAID Level, Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, SAN, Software RAID, SSD, Storage, Striping

Reading Time: 7 minutes

What is RAID?

RAID (or a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) is a way of storing logical data across a medium which is composed of multiple physical hard disk drives blended into one or more logical units or volumes that is used for data redundancy, performance improvement, and reliability.

Continue reading →