Disk striping definition
Disk striping is a technique where data is divided into blocks, and each block is written to a separate disk drive. This method lets multiple disks read or write data simultaneously, improving performance. However, disk striping doesn’t provide data redundancy — storing duplicate copies of data in multiple places so systems can continue functioning even if one location fails.
See also: disk formatting
Disk striping vs. disk mirroring
- Disk striping focuses on improving performance. It distributes data across multiple disks at the same time, allowing for quick read and write operations. Using multiple disks at once makes storage more efficient and the whole process more cost-efficient. However, a single disk's failure can jeopardize the entire dataset because there's no redundancy.
- Disk mirroring prioritizes data redundancy. It achieves this by storing duplicate copies of data on two or more disks. If one disk fails, the data remains accessible on the other disk(s). This added protection comes at the cost of storage efficiency, as it requires twice the storage space for the same amount of data. While it can improve read speeds, write speeds might be slower because the same data needs to be written to multiple disks.
Disk striping use cases
- High-performance computing (HPC), where data needs to be processed super quickly.
- Video editing and production where high data rates are required for video editing (e.g., resolutions like 4K or 8K).
- Gamers, especially those running high-end games, can experience a smoother gaming experience with striped disk setups.
