Raid 5 How does it work

Hussman

Hussman

Hussman

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Hi,

Thinking of getting a Buffalo TERASTATION 1TB.

The blurb states it comes with RAID 5 as standard.

Looked at the sticky, and googled RAID 5 and I really can't seem to see how RAID5 works.

RAID 1 and RAID 0 make sense, but if I'm right, then having 5 HDDs in RAID 5 means that 4 of them hold data and 1 holds parity.

If the parity drive goes down I can see I still have all my data intact, but if one of the data-holding drives dies, as the data isn't stored anywhere else, surely I'd lose it.

I know that isn't the case. Can anyone explain it in simple language fior the hard of thinking.

Thanks in advance.

By the way any opinions (good or bad) on the Terastation would be welcome too ;)
 
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I must be so thick, I still don't get it.


I now see that the parity (whatever that is) is not stored on one drive, but spread over the set.

However, I still don't see how, if one disk dies, my data is safe. It appears it is not duplicated anywhere else in the array, unlike raid 1.

Sorry for being dense :confused:
 
Ok, thanks for the help.

Making much more sense now.

Can someone explain the "magic" bit?

How can the lost data be "regenerated" using the remaining 4 blocks plus parity?

Thanks Guys
 
Yes, although I'm still a bit dodgy on the "regeneration" stuff.

Do you reckon RAID 5 will be sufficient to protect my digital photos?

Currently got RAID 1.

They are only snaps, but mean a lot to me. Photos of my parents, who are no longer with us, that kind of thing.

Yes, I've got them on CD too, but heard that some CDs can become unreadable after a period of time. They are stored away from light and heat.

Thanks
 
I just liked the idea of having a NAS.

Read somewhere that the terastation only allows 8.3 file names. Is this the case?
 
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