RAID Technology Overview - September 2007

About This Document

This document provides an overview of Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)

technology. The information in this document applies to HP Integrity and HP 9000 servers

equipped with HP Smart Array RAID controllers, running any supported operating system.

The latest version of this document can be found online at:

http://docs.hp.com/en/netcom.html#Smart%20Array%20%28RAID%29

Intended Audience

This document is intended for system and network administrators responsible for installing,

configuring, and managing fault tolerant data storage. Administrators are expected to have

knowledge of server hardware and operating system concepts, commands, and configuration.

This document is not a tutorial.

New and Changed Documentation in This Edition

This is the first edition of this document.

Publishing History

This is the first edition of this document.

Document Organization

The RAID Technology Overview is divided into several chapters containing information about

RAID in general, the RAID levels supported by each Smart Array Controller specifically, and

installation, configuration, and troubleshooting details for the Smart Array Controllers. There

are also several appendixes containing supplemental information.

Chapter 1 Introduction to RAID Technology Use this chapter to learn about RAID in

general, and how RAID technology can improve performance and data integrity.

Chapter 2 Smart Array Controller Supported RAID Configurations Use this chapter to

learn about the theory, advantages, and disadvantages of each RAID level.

Appendix A Logical Drive Failure Probability

Typographical Conventions

This document uses the following conventions.

Book Title The title of a book.

Emphasis Text that is emphasized.

Bold Text that is strongly emphasized.

Bold The defined use of an important word or phrase.