Real Hardware RAID
In the case of hardware RAID, there is a dedicated RAID card or RAID controller that handles all RAID operations. The RAID controller can be internal to the computer (e.g. a PCI expansion card) or external in a hard disk drive bay. Such a RAID controller will have a processor, onboard memory, possibly a battery, and is able to manage all aspects of the RAID storage system using its embedded firmware.
From the viewpoint of the operating system, the hardware RAID controller offers a complete virtualization of the storage system. The operating system considers each RAID volume as a disk drive and is not aware of its physical constituents.
Advantages |
• Hardware RAID controllers allow the detection of defects, the detection of spare units, and the possibility of rebuilding the RAID volumnes in a transparent manner when any disk drive fails. |
Disadvantages |
• The hardware RAID controllers use their own system for managing storage units. Therefore, unlike RAID software, hard drives transferred from one system to another can not be recovered if the RAID controller does not use exactly the same firmware. It is therefore advisable to have a second card in case the first card fails. |
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