RAID 0 Performance

When it comes to accessing digital data and transferring it, what matters is the speed of operation and accuracy of data copied. Today, many technologies have been developed to improve the precision and rate of data retrieval from a hard drive. In intensive computing application, it is necessary that one opts for technologies that can boost data transfer speeds beyond normal.

What is RAID 0?

Firstly, RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. This is a technology that was developed to improve the efficiency of data retrieval and improve the reliability of storage devices. There are various RAID levels, with each differing in the way it creates an array of disks for data storage reliability.

RAID 0 involves integrating many hard drive disks together so that data is sequentially written or read from different disks. It is based on the idea of striping. All the data is divided into smaller blocks and written on each one of the drives on an array in sequence. The contents of one file, divided in chunks, will be found on every one of the drives. So while retrieving the file for use, the data needs to be read from every drive sequentially. In such a system the data is thus evenly divided over multiple drives.

The problem with RAID 0 architecture (which is not considered to be a true RAID level by most purists) is that the failure in functioning of even a single disk, brings the whole system down as there is no redundancy of data in the disks. So the reliability of this data storage system decreases with increasing number of hard disks, which are included in the array.

Performance Comparison

A look at the benchmark tests presented by many websites reveals that the performance gain can be substantial for systems which require high sequential data retrieval speeds with multiple operations being carried out at the same time. The performance rate varies according to stripe size, which is the size of blocks into which data is divided. It has been verified and proved that using a RAID 0 system results in substantial increase in hard drive performance in all respects, along with an overall increase in the efficiency of a desktop computer.

Compared to a system with no RAID architecture, the speed and reliability of data storage is certainly higher. Although higher RAID levels will deliver greater accuracy in data retrieval and storage reliability, RAID 0 is easier to set up and offers an edge over other systems. The performance increase can be attributed to the multitasking in input/output functions and an overall reduction in time required for retrieving data from every drive in an array.

It certainly improves the speed of reading data off the drives, compared to a hard drive with no such system installed. However, as discussed before, its only weakness lies in the fact that the failure of a single disk means the failure of the whole RAID 0 system. Considering all points, if you are purely looking for increase in sequential reading and writing speeds, then this system will deliver that for you.