This article was first published in the July, 2009, issue of
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RAIDS (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks/Drives/Devices) consist of a number of hard drives all grouped together so that they appear to the computer as a single device. Because there is more than one hard drive in a RAID, they offer greater performance and storage.

There are different levels of RAIDS, identified by numbers:

RAID 0 - Fast, cheap, no data redundancy. Requires a minimum of two hard drives inside the RAID enclosure. Most often used when speed combined with low cost are paramount.

RAID 1 - Complete data redundancy. Requires a minimum of two hard drives inside the RAID enclosure. Often called "mirroring," each drive is a complete copy of the other. Most often used for backing up servers. No faster than the slowest drive in the system.

RAID 3 - Very fast, data redundancy. Requires a minimum of three drives. More popular on the PC than the Mac. Should one drive go down, your data is safe.

RAID 5 - Very fast, data redundancy. Requires a minimum of three drives. Most often found with four or five drives inside. More popular on the Mac, when one drive goes down, your data is safe. This is the most popular mid-priced RAID for video editing and generally connected to just one computer system.

RAID 6 - Fast, extra data redundancy. Requires a minimum of four drives. This version protects your data in the event two hard drives die at the same time. More expensive than RAID 5, but, generally, the same physical size. Like the RAID 5 this is most often used connected to just one computer. Not as fast as a RAID 5.

RAID 50 - VERY fast, data redundancy. Generally the domain of very large RAIDs, this format combines the speed of RAID 0 with the redundancy of RAID 5 by dividing the RAID into sections, where you can lose a drive in each section without losing data. These systems generally cost more than $10,000 and contain at least twelve drives. Generally used in network and server situations where multiple users need to access the same data.

RAID 60 - VERY fast, extra data redundancy. Generally the domain of very large RAIDs, this format combines the speed of RAID 0 with the redundancy of RAID 5 by dividing the RAID into sections, where you can lose two drives in each section without losing data. These systems generally cost more than $10,000 and contain at least twelve drives. Generally used in network and server situations where multiple users need to access the same data.

Larry Jordan is a post-production consultant and an Apple-Certified Trainer in Digital Media with over 25 years experience as producer, director and editor with network, local and corporate credits. Based in Los Angeles, he's a member of both the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America.

The information in this article is believed to be accurate at the time of publication. However, the author assumes no liability in case things go wrong. Please use your best judgment in applying these suggestions.

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