Software vs hardware raid performance and cache usage server. If you have two hard drives in raid 1, then data will be. The terms of the software license agreement included with any software you download will control your use of the software. Operating system will access raid device as a regular hard disk, no matter whether it is a software raid or hardware raid. Choosing between software raid and hardware raid depends on what you need to do and how much you want to pay. Setting up a storage pool has gotten easier on linux over the years, thanks to tools like mdadm. Unlike hardware raid, software raid uses the processing power of the operating system in which the raid disks are installed. We list the pros and cons of hardware vs software raid to help you decide which one is best for you. But the real question is whether you should use a hardware raid solution or a software raid solution. Where that processing occurs can be important depending on the complexity of your raid setup. Windows software raid has a bad reputation, performance wise, and even storage space seems not too different. Numerous operating systems support raid configuration, including those from apple, microsoft, various linux flavors as well as openbsd. You can install an operating system on top of hardware raid which can increase uptime. Software vs hardware raid performance and cache usage.
It is used to improve disk io performance and reliability of your server or workstation. Hardware raid versus software raid red hat enterprise linux. Linux cant see a raid array created in windows and vice versa. How to set up software raid 0 for windows and linux pc gamer. A redundant array of inexpensive disks raid allows high levels of storage reliability. Proper hardware raid systems are presented to linux as a block.
Software vs hardware raid nixcraft linux tips, hacks. The problem with software raid is that it only exists in the os it was created in. Here we will discuss about raid 1 which is also known as disk mirroring. You can check the status of a software raid array with the command cat procmdstat below is an example of. Hardware raid will cost more, but it will also be free of software raid s performance. Ive been reading a lot on raid controllerssetups and one thing that comes up a lot is how hardware controllers without cache offer the same performance as software raid. The linux kernel contains an md driver that allows the raid solution to be completely hardware independent.
If you configured the raid via software raid mdadm the use that. Hello, i am not able to figure out if the disk is in mirror or not hardware raid. On the software side, todays software raid is superfast at least with linux and bsd, extremely flexible, and highly integrated into oss. It sounds like you configured the raid via the bios though so definitely use that. This site is the linuxraid kernel list communitymanaged reference for linux software raid as implemented in recent version 4 kernels and earlier. How to set up software raid 1 on an existing linux distribution. Flexibility is the key advantage of an open source software raid, like linux mdadm, but may require a specialized skillset for proper. With this program, users can create a software raid array in a matter of minutes. A raid can be deployed using both software and hardware. How to set up software raid 1 on an existing linux. How to set up a software raid on linux addictivetips. For this reason, users regularly create a software raid on linux to satisfy their large data needs.