In addition, if your system contains four disk drives, it is possible to use three drives to implement a RAID 5 data array with the fourth drive kept as a spare disk. It is recommended (though not required) that only hard drives of the same brand and capacity are used to establish the most efficient hard drive capacity. The total capacity of the RAID 5 group is equal to the size of the disk with the smallest capacity in the array times the number of (hard disk – 1). A minimum of 3 hard disks are required to create a RAID 5 group. RAID 5 configurations are ideal for organizations running databases and other transaction-based applications that require storage efficiency and data protection. RAID 1 configuration is suitable for storing sensitive data on a corporate or personal level. The storage capacity is equal to the capacity of the smallest single disk, as the second disk drive is used to back up the first disk drive. It provides protection in the event of a single disk failure. Please note that RAID 0 configuration is not recommended for storing sensitive data.ĭisk Mirroring protects your data by automatically mirroring the contents of one disk to the second disk in the mirrored pair. Disk striping is usually used to maximize disk capacity or to accelerate disk access speed. The disk capacity is the sum of all disks. It offers the fastest disk access performance but no data redundancy protection in the event of disk failure or damage. So, in the event that a disk is corrupted or otherwise damaged, all data on that disk will be lost.Ī striping RAID group combines two or more disks into one large, logical disk. However, this setup does not provide any redundancy protection. If you find and errors that needs correction, let me know.Ī single, stand-alone RAID group can be set up for your NAS. I hope this helps others who have bought the QNAP NAS. This is a quick guide and FAQs for the QNAP NAS systems.