peterindia.netRAID
Hardware RAID controllers, software RAID and volume managers, and file systems with built-in redundancy.
Broadcom's storage adapters and RAID controllers, including the MegaRAID line used in many servers.
Best for: Hardware RAID in servers.
Visit Broadcom storage adapters (MegaRAID) →Microchip's Adaptec RAID and host bus adapter products for servers and workstations.
Best for: Hardware RAID and HBAs.
Visit Microchip Adaptec storage →Virtual RAID on CPU: Intel's technology for building RAID across NVMe SSDs without a separate controller card.
Best for: RAID across NVMe drives.
Visit Intel VROC →Documentation for the Linux kernel's md driver, which provides software RAID.
Best for: Software RAID on Linux.
Visit Linux md (software RAID) →The Linux Logical Volume Manager, which can stripe and mirror volumes.
Best for: Flexible volumes on Linux.
Visit LVM2 →Windows technology that pools drives and provides resiliency such as mirroring and parity.
Best for: Resilient pools on Windows.
Visit Windows Storage Spaces →An open-source file system and volume manager with built-in RAID-Z redundancy, snapshots and checksums.
Best for: Data integrity and snapshots.
Visit OpenZFS →A Linux file system with built-in support for multiple devices and RAID-like profiles.
Best for: Linux file system with snapshots.
Visit Btrfs →Match your requirement to a starting point, then compare vendors.
| Speed with no redundancy | RAID 0 (striping), with strong backups |
|---|---|
| Simple protection for two drives | RAID 1 (mirroring) |
| Balance capacity and protection | RAID 5 or RAID 6 with enough spares |
| Performance plus redundancy | RAID 10 |
| Data integrity checks | A checksumming file system such as ZFS or Btrfs |
| No hardware controller | Linux md, Storage Spaces or a ZFS pool |
Neighbouring directories and hubs.
Quick answers.
RAID combines several drives into one logical unit to improve performance, add redundancy, or both. Different RAID levels trade speed, usable capacity and fault tolerance.
RAID 0 stripes data for speed with no protection. RAID 1 mirrors it. RAID 5 and 6 spread parity so one or two drives can fail. RAID 10 combines mirroring and striping.
No. RAID keeps a system running after a drive failure but does not protect against deletion, corruption, malware or disasters. Keep separate, tested backups.
Hardware RAID uses a dedicated controller and can offload work. Software RAID uses the operating system or file system, is often cheaper and portable, and is common with modern CPUs and SSDs.
Rebuilding a large array takes a long time and stresses the remaining drives. Use dual parity or mirroring for big drives, and monitor drive health.
Descriptions summarise each vendor's or project's own positioning, checked on 5 October 2026. Product names and offerings change often, so confirm details on the linked site before deciding.