RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a data storage technology that uses multiple hard drives to increase performance and/or reliability. For photographers, RAID can provide important benefits like speed, capacity, and protection against drive failures.
The most common RAID setups for photographers are RAID 1, 5, 6, and 10. Each has advantages and disadvantages:
- RAID 1 mirrors data across drives for fault tolerance, but cuts storage capacity in half.
- RAID 5 stripes data across drives with distributed parity for redundancy, optimizing storage capacity but slightly reducing write speeds.
- RAID 6 is similar to RAID 5 but offers double distributed parity for better protection against drive failures.
- RAID 10 combines mirroring and striping for speed and redundancy but requires at least 4 drives.
The tradeoffs mean photographers must weigh factors like budget, performance needs, and backup practices when choosing the best RAID for their needs.
What is RAID?
RAID stands for “Redundant Array of Independent Disks.” It is a way of combining multiple hard disk drives into one logical unit to improve performance, capacity, or reliability compared to a single drive. The different configurations of RAID provide various tradeoffs between things like speed, cost, and data redundancy.
There are several standard RAID levels that each have their own benefits and drawbacks:
- RAID 0 – Data is striped across multiple disks for improved speed, but there is no redundancy. If one drive fails, all data will be lost.
- RAID 1 – Disk mirroring that duplicates data across two or more disks. Provides redundancy but reduces available capacity.
- RAID 5 – Data is striped across disks with distributed parity information that allows recovery from a single disk failure.
- RAID 6 – Similar to RAID 5 but with double distributed parity to allow recovery from up to two disk failures.
- RAID 10 – A mirrored array (RAID 1) in a striped set (RAID 0). Provides speed and redundancy but reduces capacity.
There are additional RAID levels and many variations on these basic forms. The core idea behind all RAID configurations is to use multiple disks to improve performance, capacity, and reliability in different ways.
RAID 0
RAID 0, also known as disk striping, spreads data evenly across multiple drives without parity information. It stripes data by writing a block of data across the first drive, then the second drive, and so on (Why a RAID Hard Drive is Essential for Photographers). This allows for high performance since read and write operations can be parallelized, but it provides no redundancy. If one drive fails, all data will be lost. For photographers generating large files, the performance benefits of RAID 0 may outweigh the risks (Photographer’s Guide to RAID). However, the lack of redundancy means RAID 0 should not be relied on as a backup solution.
RAID 1
RAID 1, also known as disk mirroring, is a RAID configuration that creates an exact copy of data on two or more disks (Petapixel, 2019). This provides redundancy by writing the same data on two separate drives simultaneously. If one disk fails, the data remains intact and accessible on the other disk(s).
The main advantage of RAID 1 is high redundancy and fault tolerance. Since data is mirrored, you can lose an entire disk drive without losing access to your data (Phototacopodcast, 2019). This makes RAID 1 a good option for photographers who want a backup of their photos. The downside is that RAID 1 causes a slight drag on performance compared to other RAID levels, and at least two disks are required for implementations (Petapixel, 2019).
Overall, RAID 1 is recommended for photographers who prioritize redundant backups over maximum performance and storage space. The tradeoff is having twice the storage capacity since the same data is written twice. RAID 1 provides excellent protection against drive failures but lacks the performance benefits of striping in other RAID configurations.
RAID 5
RAID 5 uses striping with distributed parity. It stripes data across multiple drives similarly to RAID 0, but also writes parity information distributed across the drives. The parity allows for redundancy, so that if one drive fails, the data can be recovered from the remaining drives using the parity information. RAID 5 requires a minimum of 3 drives.
RAID 5 provides a good balance of redundancy, performance, and storage efficiency. Since the parity information is distributed across multiple drives, write performance is better than mirroring in RAID 1. You only “lose” the equivalent of 1 drive’s worth of space to parity, which is more efficient than RAID 1’s full duplication of data. Most recommend at least 4 drives for RAID 5, so that in the event of a drive failure, rebuilding the array is less stressful on the remaining drives.
The distributed parity makes RAID 5 suitable for reads, but write performance may suffer due to the parity calculation. However, RAID 5 offers excellent redundancy for photo storage at an affordable cost per TB. With a minimum of 4 drives, RAID 5 can withstand a single drive failure without data loss. Many consider it a good balance of performance, capacity, and redundancy for photographers.
Source: https://phototacopodcast.com/photographers-guide-to-raid/
RAID 6
RAID 6 is a high redundancy option that uses double distributed parity to protect against multiple drive failures (according to Photographer’s Guide to RAID). This means that data is striped across drives like RAID 0, but parity information is written across two drives. As a result, RAID 6 can withstand the failure of up to two drives without data loss (according to A Beginner’s Guide to RAID for Photographers).
The advantage of RAID 6 for photographers is the extremely high level of redundancy and reliability. If a drive fails, the array can continue operating normally while the failed drive is replaced. And if a second drive fails before the first one is replaced, the array can continue operating using the parity data. This makes RAID 6 ideal for photography applications where reliability is critical (according to A Beginner’s Guide to RAID for Photographers).
The main downside of RAID 6 is reduced write performance compared to other RAID levels, since parity data needs to be calculated and written across two drives. However, read speeds can still be very good with proper RAID controllers. Overall, RAID 6 offers the best redundancy for critical photo storage (according to Photographer’s Guide to RAID).
RAID 10
RAID 10, also known as RAID 1+0, combines both mirroring and striping for increased performance and redundancy (The Case for RAID-10 From a Photographer’s Perspective). In RAID 10, data is mirrored onto two drives and then those mirrored sets are striped together. This provides the redundancy of RAID 1 by mirroring data, along with the speed benefits of RAID 0 striping.
RAID 10 requires a minimum of 4 drives, with drives arranged in matched pairs that are mirrored. It provides fast read and write speeds, as well as protection against drive failure. If one drive in a mirrored set fails, the data can still be accessed from the other mirrored drive. RAID 10 is able to withstand multiple drive failures as long as no more than one failure occurs per mirrored set (The Advantages and Disadvantages of RAID 10).
For photographers who need both speed and redundancy, RAID 10 is often considered the best RAID level option. The performance can handle demanding photo editing workloads, while still providing protection in case of a drive failure (RAID levels – best one). The only drawback is that RAID 10 requires at least 4 drives, and only uses 50% of the total capacity for storage.
Recommendations
For photographers looking for the best RAID solution, the main factors to consider are performance, storage capacity, and budget. Based on research from sources like Best External Hard Drive for Photo Backup In 2023 and Photographer’s Guide to RAID, here are some top recommendations:
For performance, a RAID 0 configuration provides the fastest read/write speeds by striping data across multiple drives. However, RAID 0 offers no redundancy. Photographers needing redundancy should consider RAID 5 or 6 which provide parity allowing one or two drive failures respectively. RAID 10 balances performance and redundancy by mirroring striped sets.
For storage capacity, the more drives in the array, the more total storage space. Bigger RAID arrays with 4, 6, 8, or more drives are ideal for photographers storing lots of high-resolution RAW images and video files.
Finally, photographers on a budget should look at external direct-attached RAID from companies like Drobo, Promise, LaCie, and G-RAID. For higher performance and capacity, networked RAID NAS from companies like QNAP and Synology offer excellent solutions without the cost of a full enterprise SAN.
Alternatives to RAID
While RAID offers redundancy and speed, there are alternatives that photographers may want to consider:
JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) – This configuration combines multiple drives into one large volume, but doesn’t provide any redundancy. JBOD allows accessing all available storage space, but has no protection against drive failure.1
Backups – Rather than relying solely on RAID, having a good backup system in place is critical. Options like cloud backups or external drives provide an additional layer of protection against data loss. Some key backup principles for photographers include the 3-2-1 rule (3 copies, 2 local and 1 off-site) and verifying backups.
Non-RAID storage spaces – Solutions like DrivePool on Windows or various pooling options on Linux provide alternative ways to organize multiple disks without RAID. While they don’t offer RAID’s performance or redundancy, they provide more flexibility for accessing all disk space.
Standalone disks – For some photographers, relying on single external SSDs or HDDs rather than RAID may suffice for their storage needs. The simplicity and cost can be appealing, though does not provide protection against drive failure.
Online storage – Services like Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage, Amazon S3, or Google Cloud Storage allow storing files remotely in the cloud. This makes an easy off-site backup solution, though bandwidth limits can make cloud impractical for some photographers’ large media files.
Conclusion
When selecting a RAID setup for a photographer’s workflow, the most important factors to consider are performance, redundancy, and cost. RAID 0 provides the fastest performance but no redundancy. RAID 1 provides redundancy through mirroring but cuts storage capacity in half. RAID 5 provides a good balance of performance, capacity and redundancy for a reasonable cost. RAID 6 offers excellent redundancy but lower performance and higher cost compared to RAID 5. RAID 10 combines the performance of RAID 0 with the redundancy of RAID 1 but at a higher cost.
For most photographers, RAID 5 or RAID 6 provide the best combination of performance, protection, and cost-effectiveness. RAID 5 with at least 3 drives is recommended for general photo storage and editing. RAID 6 is preferred for archival storage or working with very large photo and video files. For utmost performance when processing large quantities of RAW images or 4K video, a RAID 10 setup may be justified despite the higher cost. It’s best to avoid RAID 0 as loss of a single drive means complete data loss.
In summary, RAID 5 or RAID 6 deliver the right blend of speed, redundancy, and affordability for a photographer’s working storage needs. RAID 10 can provide faster performance for processing-intensive workflows if budget allows. Planning an appropriate RAID configuration will lead to a robust photo editing and backup solution.