6/21/13

Iomega NAS User's Manual

RAID Configurations
What is RAID? What is a Non-RAID configuration? What is RAID 0? What is RAID 1? What is RAID 5? Which RAID is Right for Me?

The Iomega NAS offers the following HDD configuration options for NAS servers: Non-RAID, RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5.

What is RAID?
RAID, or Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, is a method of combining multiple hard drives for data redundancy in case of a hard drive failure. This section describes each of the different types of RAID supported by your Iomega NAS. CAUTION! Some RAID configurations add a level of redundancy for your data; however, RAID should not be your only means of backup.

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What is a Non-RAID configuration? You can configure your Iomega NAS without using a RAID. A non-RAID configuration does not allow any data redundancy and is slower than some RAID configurations. Since there is no data redundancy, you can use the entire physical capacity of your Iomega NAS. Each drive will appear as a separate volume.

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What is RAID 0? RAID 0 uses a technique called data striping. Multiple hard drives are combined to make one large volume. RAID 0 can read and write faster than a non-RAID configuration, since it splits the data and accesses all disks in parallel. RAID 0 does not provide any data redundancy. RAID 0 requires two or more hard drives.

www.iomega.com/support/manuals/800mseries/raid.html

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Iomega NAS User's Manual

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What is RAID 1? RAID 1 mirrors or duplicates the contents of one drive on another equally-sized drive. Mirroring provides optimal data integrity and immediate access to your data if one drive fails. The Iomega NAS only supports two-drive RAID 1 configurations. The RAID capacity is half the physical capacity of the two drives.

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What is RAID 5? RAID 5 is the factory setting of your Iomega NAS. RAID 5 provides the best balance of data redundancy and disk capacity. Like RAID 0, RAID 5 stripes all of the available disks into one large volume; however, the space equivalent to one hard drive will be used to store parity data. If a hard drive fails, the Iomega NAS will rebuild your files using the parity data. RAID 5 requires at least 3 hard drives.
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Iomega NAS User's Manual

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Which RAID is Right for Me?

Iomega recommends RAID 5. RAID 5 provides the best balance of data redundancy and disk capacity. The Iomega NAS comes preconfigured for RAID 5. If you wish to change the RAID level of the Iomega NAS, use the chart below to find the RAID that will best meet your needs. = Iomega Recommends Non-RAID Data redundancy Disk failures allowed without data loss Data accessibility after drive failure Disk access speed Minimum number of disks RAID capacity (n = total capacity of RAID drives c=capacity of a single drive) Space consumed by redundancy Iomega Recommends None RAID 0 None RAID 1 Complete Mirror 1 RAID 5 Parity Data Only 0 None (from damaged drive) 0 1 Slow access until rebuilt

None 2 n

Immediate

1 n

2 n2

3 n-1c

N/A

N/A

1/2

1/n

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www.iomega.com/support/manuals/800mseries/raid.html

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