Differences between RAID-5- and RAID-10
RAID 5 vs. RAID 10[edit]
RAID 5 and RAID 10 are two distinct levels of Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) that combine multiple physical disk drives into a single logical unit to provide data redundancy and improve performance.[1][2] RAID 5 uses block-level striping with distributed parity, where data and parity information are spread across three or more disks.[3] This allows the array to withstand the failure of a single drive without data loss.[4] RAID 10, also known as RAID 1+0, is a hybrid RAID configuration that combines disk mirroring (RAID 1) and disk striping (RAID 0).[5] It requires a minimum of four disks and provides redundancy by mirroring data onto pairs of disks and then striping the data across these mirrored pairs.
The choice between RAID 5 and RAID 10 involves a trade-off between storage efficiency, performance, and fault tolerance.[1] RAID 5 is more space-efficient as it only uses the capacity equivalent of one disk for parity. However, it suffers from slower write performance due to the need to calculate and write parity for every write operation.[4] RAID 10 offers significantly better write performance and faster rebuild times in case of a drive failure but at the cost of usable capacity, as 50% of the total disk space is used for mirroring.
Comparison Table[edit]
| Category | RAID 5 | RAID 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Drives | 3 | 4 |
| Fault Tolerance | Can tolerate the failure of one disk.[4] | Can tolerate the failure of at least one disk; potentially more as long as no two disks in the same mirrored pair fail.[1] |
| Read Performance | Good; data is read from multiple disks simultaneously.[3] | Excellent; data is read from multiple disks in a striped set.[4] |
| Write Performance | Slower due to the overhead of parity calculations for every write.[4] | Excellent; no parity calculation is required, data is written to mirrored pairs simultaneously.[1] |
| Usable Capacity | (Number of drives - 1) * size of the smallest drive. | (Number of drives / 2) * size of the smallest drive. |
| Rebuild Process | Slower and more intensive as data must be reconstructed from parity information on all remaining drives. | Faster as data is simply copied from the surviving mirror of the failed drive. |
RAID 5[edit]
RAID 5 distributes parity information across all drives in the array, which avoids the write bottleneck that would be created by a dedicated parity disk.[3] The parity is calculated using an XOR (exclusive OR) operation. If a drive fails, the data on that drive can be reconstructed by using the data and parity information from the remaining drives. This makes RAID 5 a cost-effective solution for achieving data redundancy.[2] However, the process of rebuilding a failed drive in a RAID 5 array can be lengthy, and during this time, the array is in a degraded state and vulnerable to another drive failure, which would result in the loss of all data. RAID 5 is often used for file and application servers where storage efficiency and read performance are important.[3]
RAID 10[edit]
RAID 10 creates a "stripe of mirrors." Data is first mirrored onto pairs of disks, and then the data is striped across these pairs. This configuration offers high performance for both read and write operations because there is no overhead for parity calculations. Its fault tolerance is also robust; an array can sustain multiple drive failures as long as no single mirrored pair loses both of its drives.[1] When a drive does fail, the rebuild process is significantly faster and less risky than in a RAID 5 array, as the data is simply copied from the other drive in the mirrored pair. The primary disadvantage of RAID 10 is its high cost in terms of storage capacity, with a 50% overhead.[2] It is well-suited for I/O-intensive applications such as high-performance database servers and environments where uptime is critical.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "techtarget.com". Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "geeksforgeeks.org". Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "techtarget.com". Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "mycloudwiki.com". Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ "diskinternals.com". Retrieved December 31, 2025.
