Number of Drives Your configuration planning for the Nytro MegaRAID card depends in part on the number of drives that you want to use in a RAID drive group. The number of drives in a drive group determines the RAID levels that can be supported. Only one RAID level can be assigned to each virtual drive. Drive Group Purpose Important factors to consider when creating RAID drive groups include availability, performance, and capacity. Define the major purpose of the drive group by answering questions related to these factors, such as the following, which are followed by suggested RAID levels for each situation: Will this drive group increase the system storage capacity for general-purpose file and print servers? Use RAID 5, 6, 10, 50, or 60. Does this drive group support any software system that must be available 24 hours per day? Use RAID 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, or 60. Will the information stored in this drive group contain large audio or video files that must be available on demand? Use RAID 0 or 00. Will this drive group contain data from an imaging system? Use RAID 0, 00, or 10. Fill out the following table to help you plan the drive group configuration. Rank the requirements for your drive group, such as storage space and data redundancy, in order of importance, and then review the suggested RAID levels. Table 17. Factors to Consider for Drive Group Configuration Requirement Rank RAID Levels Storage space — RAID 0, RAID 5, RAID 00 Data redundancy — RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, RAID 50, RAID 60 Drive performance and throughput — RAID 0, RAID 00, RAID 10 Hot spares (extra drives required) — RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, RAID 50, RAID 60
Number of Drives
Your configuration planning for the Nytro MegaRAID card depends in part on the number of drives that you want to use in a RAID drive group.
The number of drives in a drive group determines the RAID levels that can be supported. Only one RAID level can be assigned to each virtual drive.
Drive Group Purpose
Important factors to consider when creating RAID drive groups include availability, performance, and capacity. Define the major purpose of the drive group by answering questions related to these factors, such as the following, which are followed by suggested RAID levels for each situation:
Will this drive group increase the system storage capacity for general-purpose file and print servers?
Use RAID 5, 6, 10, 50, or 60.
Does this drive group support any software system that must be available 24 hours per day?
Use RAID 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, or 60.
Will the information stored in this drive group contain large audio or video files that must be available on demand?
Use RAID 0 or 00.
Will this drive group contain data from an imaging system?
Use RAID 0, 00, or 10.
Fill out the following table to help you plan the drive group configuration. Rank the requirements for your drive group, such as storage space and data redundancy, in order of importance, and then review the suggested RAID levels.
Table 17. Factors to Consider for Drive Group Configuration
Requirement
Rank
RAID Levels
Storage space
—
RAID 0, RAID 5, RAID 00
Data redundancy
RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, RAID 50, RAID 60
Drive performance and throughput
RAID 0, RAID 00, RAID 10
Hot spares (extra drives required)
RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, RAID 50, RAID 60