Comparing Different Implementations of RAID Levels
There are advantages and disadvantages to using the various implementations of RAID (redundant array of independent disks).
| RAID implementation |
Advantage |
Disadvantage |
| Microsoft® WindowsNT®-based striping or Windows 2000 RAID-5 volumes |
No added hardware cost. |
Uses system processing resources. |
| Hardware-based striping |
Does not compete for processor cycles. Best performance of all RAID implementations. |
Additional cost of specialized hardware. |
RAID solutions typically used with Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 provide varying levels of redundancy and fault tolerance.
| RAID implementation |
Advantage |
Disadvantage |
| Hardware-based RAID 3, 5, or 10 |
Excellent performance. Does not compete for processor cycles. |
Cost. |
| Hardware-based RAID 1 |
Excellent redundancy. Does not compete for processor cycles. |
Additional cost due to more hardware. |
| Hardware-based RAID 10 |
Excellent performance. Excellent redundancy. |
Additional cost due to more hardware. |
| Windows NT–based RAID 1 or Windows 2000 mirrored volumes |
Good redundancy. Low cost. |
Uses system processing resources. |
| Windows NT– or Windows 2000-based RAID 5 |
Excellent read performance. Low cost. |
Uses system processing resources. |