RAID 6 vs. RAID 10 - TechTarget

Continue Reading This Article · RAID 6 uses less storage · RAID 6 is more compute-intensive · RAID 6 can protect against two disk failures · RAID 10 ... gosphotodesign-Fotolia Sharethisitemwithyournetwork: By RickCook ErinSullivan, SiteEditor Published:22Feb2019 DecidingwhentouseRAID6vs.RAID10isanissuethatgivesmanystorageadministratorstrouble.WhileRAID... Signinforexistingmembers Step2of2: YouforgottoprovideanEmailAddress. Thisemailaddressdoesn’tappeartobevalid. Thisemailaddressisalreadyregistered.Pleaselogin. Youhaveexceededthemaximumcharacterlimit. PleaseprovideaCorporateEmailAddress. IagreetoTechTarget’sTermsofUse,PrivacyPolicy,andthetransferofmyinformationtotheUnitedStatesforprocessingtoprovidemewithrelevantinformationasdescribedinourPrivacyPolicy. Pleasechecktheboxifyouwanttoproceed. IagreetomyinformationbeingprocessedbyTechTargetanditsPartnerstocontactmeviaphone,email,orothermeansregardinginformationrelevanttomyprofessionalinterests.Imayunsubscribeatanytime. Pleasechecktheboxifyouwanttoproceed. BysubmittingmyEmailaddressIconfirmthatIhavereadandacceptedtheTermsofUseandDeclarationofConsent. 5isthemost-usedtypeofRAID,thebenefitsofdifferentlevelssuitdifferentuses. RAID6andRAID10canbeusedasalternativestoRAID5,dependingontheprioritiesoftheorganization.Preventingdataloss,meetingperformancerequirementsandmaximizingcapacityaresomeofthefactorsthatshouldbetakenintoconsiderationwhendecidingonaRAIDlevel. RAIDstandsforredundantarrayofindependentdisks,anditcomesinawiderangeofconfigurations.RAID10--alsoknownasRAID1+0--isanestedRAIDlevel,combiningthebenefitsofRAID1andRAID0.RAID10mirrorsthedata,thenstripestheresultacrossthedisks. RAID6isastandardRAIDlevel.Itstripesthedataandcalculatesparitytwice,withtheresultsstoredindifferentblocksonthedisks.BothRAID6andRAID10providefaulttolerance,whichcanoffersomepeaceofmindwhenitcomestopotentialdataloss. TobettercomparethesetwoRAIDlevels,we'lltakealookattheadvantagesofeach.  RAID6useslessstorage ARAID10arraycanonlystorehalfofitstotaldiskcapacityindata,astheotherhalfisusedbythemirror.IfaRAID6arraycontainstheminimumnumberofdisks--four--thenitcanonlyholdhalfthetotaldiskcapacityindata,aswell,becauseRAID6reservesthecapacityamountoftwodrivestoholdparity.Thedifferencecomesasyouadddisks. ARAID10arraydedicateshalfitscapacitytoprotectionnomatterhowmanydisksareused.ButthepercentageofusablecapacityincreasesasyouadddiskstoaRAID6array.IfyouuseeightdisksinRAID6,forexample,parity--stilltheequivalenttotwodrives--onlyconsumes25%ofthediskcapacity. RAID6ismorecompute-intensive BecauseRAID6requirestwoparitycalculationsforeachwriteoperation,itwritesslowerthanmostotherRAIDlevels.RAIDcontrollercoprocessorsareoftenemployedtohandleparitycalculationsandtoimproveRAID6writespeed. RAID6canprotectagainsttwodiskfailures ThemajorweaknessofRAID6isthatittakesalongtimetorebuildthearrayafteradiskfailure. BecauseRAID6usesadoubleparityscheme,itcanprotectagainstthesimultaneousfailureoftwodisks.RAID10mayormaynotbeabletoprotectagainsttwodiskfailuresdependingonwheretheyoccur. Ifbothfaileddisksareinthesamemirror,thentheothermirrorcantakeover.Ifthedisksinbothmirrorsfail,youhaveaproblem. RAID10isfastertorebuild ThemajorweaknessofRAID6isthatittakesalongtimetorebuildthearrayafteradiskfailurebecauseofRAID6'sslowwritetimes.Withevenamoderate-sizedarray,rebuildtimescanstretchto24hours,dependingonhowmanydisksareinthearrayandthecapacityofthedisks.BecauseRAID6userstendtousethelargestcapacitydiskstheycanafford,thisisanincreasinglyseriouslimitationforRAID6. RAID10doesn'trequirespecialhardware MostcontrollerssupportRAID10withgoodperformance.IfyouaregoingtouseRAID6,itisimportanttouseacontrollerspecificallydesignedtosupportit.RAID6essentiallydoublestheparitycalculationsforeverywrite. RAID6vs.RAID10:Whichshouldyouchoose? TheRAIDconfigurationyouchooseoftendependsonwhatkindofstorageyou'reprotectingandhowmuchcapacityisrequired.RAID6ismostlyfoundininstallationsusingSATAdrives,especiallylarge-capacitySATAdiskdrives. There'snotechnicalreasonwhyyoucan'tuseRAID6withSCSIdrives,butthere'snotmuchincentivetodoso.SCSIdrivesaregenerallysmallerthanSATAdrivesandtheyareconsideredtobemorereliable. AsanestedRAIDlevel,RAID10providesthebenefitsoftworeliableRAIDconfigurations.RAID10isoneofthefewRAIDlevelsoptimizedforusewithSSDs,soasthepriceofflashcontinuestodrop,RAID10isanappealingoptiontocombinewithaflashenvironment. WhendecidingwhichRAIDarraytouse,youshouldconsiderbudget,capacity,read/writespeedsandrebuild/recoverytime. NextSteps HowtochoosetherightRAIDconfiguration TakeadeepdiveintodifferentRAIDlevels RelatedResources Designingaredundantbackupsolution –SearchStorage.com DigDeeperonDisk-basedbackup RAID5vs.RAID6:Capacity,performance,durability By:Brien Posey RAID6 By:Kim Hefner RAID10(RAID1+0) By:Erin Sullivan RAID,flashanderasurecoding:Whatworksbestwithsolidstate? By:Stephen Pritchard SponsoredNews BackupPerformance:Solved –Exagrid HowAdvancesinHCIAreEmpoweringtheNext-GenerationofEdgeComputing –DellTechnologies Modernizebusiness-criticalworkloadswithintelligence –DellTechnologies SeeMore RelatedContent RAID6vsRAID10:ChoosingthebestRAIDlevelfor... –ComputerWeekly.com RAID6vs.RAID10 –SearchStorage.co.UK RAID6 –SearchStorage LatestTechTargetresources DisasterRecovery Storage ConvergedInfrastructure ITChannel SearchDisasterRecovery Top10businesscontinuityriskstomonitor Businesscontinuityanddisasterrecoverythreatsvarybyorganization,butcommonthreadscanbefoundacrosstheglobe.Ten... 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