Hardware RAID (5 & 6)

  Hardware RAID is accomplished by using a host controller with an on board CPU to handle the needed RAID calculations freeing up your system CPU. This is very important when using a Parity array since by it's nature it tends to be a CPU hog. RAID 5 and RAID 6's share parity information among all drive members where a RAID 3 has a dedicated Parity drive. Parity RAIDs require a lot of processor to perform all the calculations needed to maintain the revolving parity. This is best accomplished by using a Hardware based Controller such as the 3ware since all the needed calculations can be performed on the Controller itself leaving the system CPU untaxed.

  For PCs there are several options. 3ware makes excellent controller cards for up to 24 drives with onboard CPU and RAM which can be used with our line of Burly SATA and Multilane Enclosures. The Areca cards offer the latest Processors found on a RAID Controller providing the best performance for both PC's and Macs. These cards are available in PCI-X and PCI Express versions and work with just about any PC OS.

  Hardware RAIDs are the safest possible means of storing your irreplaceable data but backups are always required. Due to the complexity of any RAID it should never be relied on as your sole storage. You must maintain a backup. There are innumerable ways of losing or corrupting data, most have nothing to do with hardware failure. For this reason we at Burly Storage ALWAYS recommend that you keep your data backed up in at least one place preferably two, one being off site. This applies even when using a Parity RAID such as a RAID 5 or RAID 6. These RAIDs may protect your data from a hard drive failure, but they can't save you from the many other ways of losing your data. ALWAYS use an automated backup routine and make sure that the timely backups occur. Also of note, a Mirror (RAID 1) can not be considered a backup. The problem with a mirror is it's instantness. Should you corrupt your data on one side of a mirror it's also corrupted on the other. If you use a software backup routine to copy your data to your backup drive after hours and should that same corruption occur, your backup drive would remain intact and undamaged to recover from.