How does RAID technology enhance storage performance?

RAID technology enhances storage performance by distributing data across multiple drives, improving speed and data redundancy.

RAID, which stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, is a method of storing the same data in different places on multiple hard disks or solid-state drives to protect data and increase system performance. By spreading the data across multiple drives, the I/O (input/output) operations can overlap in a balanced way, improving performance. This is because while one disk is reading or writing data, another disk can be seeking the next operation.

There are different RAID levels, each providing a different balance between performance, data protection and capacity. For example, RAID 0, also known as striping, splits data evenly across two or more disks with no parity information for redundancy. It's intended to increase the system's performance as it allows the system to read or write data on multiple disks simultaneously. However, it doesn't provide any data protection.

On the other hand, RAID 1, known as mirroring, duplicates the same data on two or more disks. This level of RAID provides data protection by duplicating all data from a primary drive on a secondary drive. The benefit is improved read speed and instant data recovery in case of a disk failure. However, it doesn't provide as much storage capacity as other RAID levels because all data is duplicated.

RAID 5, another common level, uses block-level striping with parity data distributed across all member disks. It offers a good balance of data protection, system performance and usable capacity. It can withstand a single disk failure without losing data or access to data.

In summary, RAID technology enhances storage performance by distributing data across multiple drives, which allows for increased speed and data redundancy. The specific benefits depend on the RAID level used, with different levels offering different balances of speed, data protection and capacity.