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There are a few dedicated hosting companies that offer different levels of RAID. But, before we jump into these enterprises (and what they offer), let's go through what RAID is and why you may want it. RAID devices Mirroring, Failover, and Redundancy help to protect and recover data.

RAID Explained Simply

Multiple drives in a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) is one excellent way to prevent a complete hard drive collapse. When a hard drive fails, the result is often catastrophic and can mean lots of lost revenue.  The RAID options are sought out, to avoid this kind of disaster, 

In basic terms, a RAID storage system includes two (sometimes more) hard disks that are combined to form one single disk. This single disc is sometimes called a virtual disk. RAID storage makes for faster transfer rates, a much lower possibility of complete data loss, and a larger storage option (usually at a reasonable price). In short, you'll want to go with a RAID setup.

Where can you find a dedicated hosting company that provides different levels of RAID?

What Are RAID Levels?

All of these companies offer various RAID levels. To break this down further, let's take a look at what a RAID level is.

  • RAID 0: this level also called ‘disk stripping,' and it's used mostly to heighten the performance of a server. There is no fault tolerance included with RAID 0.
  • RAID 1: also called ‘disk mirroring,' this level of RAID copies (or mirrors) data from one drive to another. Benefit: if one disk dies, the other drive keeps ticking.
  • RAID 5: this is the RAID level that most sales reps will probably suggest for your small business. Why? RAID 5 means that data included in 3 separate disks, so the failure rate is much lower with RAID 5. RAID 5 also ensures that segments of disks did not ultimately lose when various parts of a disk burn out. RAID 5 also works well with NAS devices.
  • RAID 1+0: this is also called ‘RAID 10.' Basically, RAID 1+0 combines the best from RAID 1 and RAID 0. So, that's both mirroring and striping. Servers that go through various write operations on a daily basis will benefit from RAID 10.

Additional RAID Options

There are a number of RAID levels offered, though most of those levels are not sought after by small business owners. Most variants of the RAID levels listed above are specific and used in very specific cases. Hosts may suggest different levels of RAID if you have specific requirements.

You will find that most hosting companies offer the RAID levels outlined above, though some offer additional RAID levels. The best way to compare rates is to, as always, shop around for what you will need. If you aren't sure about what RAID level to use, contact us – we're happy to help.