RAID Controller Card- Types\, Working

RAID Controller Card- Types, Working

Posted by: Twinkle Goel 16 mins ago in Technology Leave a comment

A RAID controller card is used in the procession units to manage the Hard Disk or Solid State drives. While protecting your data at times of drive loss, it also ensures that your computer works well. It is an electronic, integrated chip that works as a mediator between processing units and peripheral devices. The primary purpose of the controller card is to manage all the connected devices, internal and external and also provide additional features. You can buy controller cards online, depending on your requirements.  

RAID Controller Types

Different controller cards offer different functions and advantages. You can read their functions and decide according to your requirements. Here are the different types of RAID controller cards available:

 

RAID 0 has no redundancy means there is no automatic protection when a disk fails.  RAID 0 is actually a stripped drive, spreading data over two drives so it can be read or written quickly. RAID 0 increases the chances of data loss because any hard disk failure will bring loss of all data on both drives.

 

RAID 1 is also known as a mirror. It is best for redundancy because each hard disk in the array is an accurate copy or mirror of the second drive. Your system will simultaneously write the same file or data to both or all drives in the array. RAID 1 provides no or little performance gain. If the risk of data loss or disk failure is high, use RAID 1 instead of RAID 0.

 

RAID 10 offers functions that are a combination of both RAID 0 and RAID 1. They provide speed and redundancy to the array. Under RAID 10, there are both disk combinations available, mirroring and stripping. The data is stripped first across the drives and then mirrored or vice versa. 

 

RAID 5 is even better than RAID 10, as it offers an excellent balance between redundancy and speed. It uses better technology for disk striping where it is done with parity. The system with RAID 5 controller card generally required three drives. With parity information, the data under RAID 5 is stripped across the drives. It also enables data reconstruction in case of disk failures or crashes. 

 

This type of controller card is used in the SATA environment as it offers better readability. 

How to Choose RAID Controller Card

 

Consider these questions before you browse to buy a controller card online. What capacity of the RAID controller card are you looking for (TB)? Speed? Are you using it for server or video editing? , and the final question, how much money is your budget? 

When you have answers to these questions, you will know what you are looking for, and it will become easier to search.

 

 

The next factor to consider is what you need: subsystems or controller cards. Your organization requirements will play an important role in decision making. RAID subsystems have a combination of RAID controller cards, USB, and firewire. It ensures connectivity with the computer.

 

The RAID controllers are majorly divided into two subtypes: SAS and SATA.  The major difference between these two are prices and speed. Therefore, if you decide to choose the SATA RAID controller you will get a slower performance than SAS. 

 

Normally, people use separate chassis to hold their drives, but it is up to your requirements. You can use hard drives that can be either internally or externally attached as per your convenience. 

 

One of the most common aspects that work as a deciding factor is the budget. It totally depends on person to person which type of controller card to buy or not. They can make a choice by keeping in mind their budget and what features they need. 

Summing Up

Choosing a RAID controller card may sound daunting to those unfamiliar with the concept and with the variety available. With some of the more basic configuration knowledge, it is not much more involved than setting up a computer to use a standard drive controller.