Server Mirroring

How to Select the Proper Server Mirroring Solution!

Selecting the proper solution of mirrored disks for your server can mean the difference between having your data intact, and losing all of your data. Given the large amounts of data stored on servers, there is a need to keep that data secured against hardware failure. In most circumstances, a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) array is the best way to protect your data. However, there are several different implementations of RAID, each with its own specific drawbacks and advantages. Let’s explore the different types of a RAID array, and how they can protect your data.



Perhaps the most common type of server mirroring is a RAID-1 array. This array consists of two hard disk drives which are exact duplicates of each other. In the event that one hard drive should fail, the other hard drive contains an exact duplicate of the data. This provides the easiest method of failure recovery (if all else fails, just use the good drive by itself), but also the most expensive. In order to provide full protection, the capacity of a RAID system must be cut in half. In other words, if there are two 120 GB hard drives, only 120 GB of data may be saved on this file system.

Another common method of storing files on a disk mirroring system is RAID-5. This array consists of at least three hard drives, one of which is used for redundancy. With this method of redundancy, high disk read and write speeds are possible. In addition, this array can lose one hard drive without affecting the data integrity of the entire array. This type of server hard disk array is growing in popularity, due to its performance advantages over the more common RAID-1 array.

Yet another type of mirror server systems consists of essentially two separate arrays- one built for speed, and one built for redundancy. This system is called RAID 0+1, and it consists of one RAID array which contains two separate arrays within. For instance, the first two drives contain data which is striped across the two drives. In addition, another two drives contain the same data, but mirrored. This results in faster data access times than RAID-1, while retaining redundancy. The main drawback of this method, however, is that it is expensive in terms of disk usage. Roughly ½ of the total disk space can be used with this array. In other words, if there are 4 120 GB hard disk drives, the actual storage capacity of this array would be 240 GB.

No matter which server RAID mirror solution you select, you will have the redundancy and reliability that only disk mirroring solutions can provide. Although data backups are still important, you can rest easier knowing that the crucial data stored on your server has some redundancy to its storage system.


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