Raid Comparison : Software Vs Hardware

[Mannat]

Hello , I Wish cleat my doubts regarding the Different Types of raid , I mean types No Level , as I came to know there can be a Hardware Raid and also a software Raid , We can implement Both , so i wanted to ask what is the Difference and what is the Benefits , please help me , thanks you for those who Can Help me

[T.J.]

There are several ways to implement a RAID solution on a server:
In Software, Called as Software Raid : it is usually a driver in the operating system of the computer that can create a single logical volume with more disks (SCSI or IDE).

and in hardware , called as Hardware Raid with DASD materials (Direct Access Storage Device): This is external storage units equipped with their own power supply. In addition these devices are equipped with connectors for the exchange of disks (this type of drive is hot swappable). This equipment operates on it own controller, so it is recognized as a SCSI standard.

with RAID disk controllers: This card plugs into the PCI or ISA slots and to monitor multiple hard drives.

[Killen]

Software RAID
In software RAID, RAID control is fully covered by a layer of software operating system. This layer sits between the hardware abstraction layer (driver) and the layer filesystem.


Advantages

• This is the least expensive because it requires no additional hardware.
• This method has great flexibility in administration (software).
• This method has the advantage of compatibility between all the machines with the same software RAID (that is to say the same operating system)

[Hardwareman]

In the case of hardware RAID, a card or component is dedicated to operations management of Raid . The RAID controller can be internal to the CPU (expansion card) or deported to the disk array. A RAID controller usually have a specific processor, memory, possibly a spare battery, and can handle all aspects of the RAID storage system using the embedded microcode (firmware). , From the perspective of the operating system, the hardware RAID controller offers a complete virtualization of the storage system. The operating system treats each as a RAID disk and is not aware of its physical constituents.