When it comes to a business you can never be too careful with your data safety. After all should something happen to any of your data, the repercussions could be truly catastrophic. Of course there are a number of options out there for you and one of those is RAID.
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks (originally Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) and provides a means of storing data in numerous places on multiple hard disks redundantly. By placing data on multiple disks it permits the correction of errors in stored or transmitted data. When an error is detected this allows the back-up to replace the damaged data.
So why is it more beneficial for a company to go with a RAID method of data storage?
Things like online Cloud storage or a simple hard drive solution rely on a single source for saving data which is perfectly fine when everything is running smoothly. However when data becomes corrupted or damaged, it suddenly transforms into a real nightmare especially when it comes to recovering said data. Sure there are methods to attempt to bring your data back (using a professional data recovery service for example) but this is not always a guarantee. As a business you want to take all the precautions you can to prevent this from happening.
With RAID, you’re dealing with a storage solution that uses multiple disks; meaning that copies of your data aren’t all stored in one place as the case would be with a regular hard drive or cloud storage. Overall this offers much better reliability to its users. It probably comes as no surprise, but the more discs you have the safer your data will be. Certain high level RAIDs for example allow for one or even two disc failures without impacting your data. Even if you lose discs there will be another backing it up with a copy of all your data. If the whole array of disks becomes corrupted altogether, expert RAID recovery services can always be called upon to restore our RAID data.
While not necessarily to do with safety per say, RAID performs much better than traditional storage methods. As we mentioned before, you’re making use of multiple drives meaning you’re not restricting your company’s users to a single source. If everyone in the building tried to access a solitary hard drive at once it can cause slow down and reduce performance. Being a business obviously efficiency is vital. Furthermore who’s to say that consistent strain on the hard drive wouldn’t cause issues in the long term?
When using RAID services it’s important to note the balance between ones with a high number of hard drives and those with a low one. Why is this significant? It all comes down to safety and performance and what you hold more critical or feels deserve more focus. If you’re more concerned for the safety of your data then it is ideal to use a RAID service sporting more hard drives. If performance is something you value highly then less drives is the way to go.
