Which redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID) consumes large amounts of storage capacity because it requires double the amount of space for data?

Which redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID) consumes large amounts of storage capacity because it requires double the amount of space for data?

• A. RAID 0
• B. RAID 1
• C. RAID 5
• D. RAID 6

Answer: (B)

RAID 1 is characterized by mirroring, where data is duplicated across two drives. This means that for every byte of data stored, an identical copy is stored on a second drive, effectively doubling the amount of storage space required. This redundancy is primarily aimed at data protection; if one drive fails, the mirrored drive still contains a complete copy of the data, ensuring that no data is lost. This mirroring process is what leads to the significant consumption of storage capacity, as half of the total capacity in a RAID 1 configuration is used for redundancy rather than actual data storage. Therefore, in RAID 1, if you have two 1TB drives, you only have 1TB of usable storage because the second 1TB is a mirror of the first. In contrast, other RAID configurations, such as RAID 0, RAID 5, and RAID 6, utilize different methods of redundancy and data distribution that do not require such a large capacity overhead for duplicating each piece of data. RAID 0, for instance, does not provide redundancy at all, while RAID 5 and RAID 6 use parity information which allows data recovery without requiring a complete mirror of the data.

RAID 1 is characterized by mirroring, where data is duplicated across two drives. This means that for every byte of data stored, an identical copy is stored on a second drive, effectively doubling the amount of storage space required. This redundancy is primarily aimed at data protection; if one drive fails, the mirrored drive still contains a complete copy of the data, ensuring that no data is lost.

This mirroring process is what leads to the significant consumption of storage capacity, as half of the total capacity in a RAID 1 configuration is used for redundancy rather than actual data storage. Therefore, in RAID 1, if you have two 1TB drives, you only have 1TB of usable storage because the second 1TB is a mirror of the first.

In contrast, other RAID configurations, such as RAID 0, RAID 5, and RAID 6, utilize different methods of redundancy and data distribution that do not require such a large capacity overhead for duplicating each piece of data. RAID 0, for instance, does not provide redundancy at all, while RAID 5 and RAID 6 use parity information which allows data recovery without requiring a complete mirror of the data.