Redundant Array of Independent Disks, or RAID, is a method of keeping content on a number of hard disks simultaneously. A RAID can be software or hardware depending on the drives that are used - physical or logical ones, but what’s common between them is that they all work as just a single unit where data is saved. The top advantage of employing a RAID is redundancy because the data on all drives will be identical all the time, so even in case a drive fails for whatever reason, the data will still be available on the other drives. The overall performance is also enhanced since the reading and writing processes could be split between different drives, so a single one will never be overloaded. There're different types of RAIDs where the functionality and fault tolerance could differ according to the specific setup - whether information is written on all the drives in real time or it's written on a single drive and then mirrored on another, what number of drives are used for the RAID, and many others.

RAID in Hosting

The hard drives which we employ for storage with our outstanding cloud web hosting platform are not the classic HDDs, but quick NVMes. They function in RAID-Z - a special setup intended for the ZFS file system which we employ. All of the content that you upload to your hosting account will be stored on multiple drives and at least 1 shall be used as a parity disk. This is a specific drive where a further bit is included to any content copied on it. In the event that a disk in the RAID fails, it will be replaced with no service interruptions and the data will be rebuilt on the new drive by recalculating its bits using the data on the parity disk plus that on the other disks. This is done in order to guarantee the integrity of the data and along with the real-time checksum authentication that the ZFS file system runs on all drives, you won't ever have to concern yourself with losing any data no matter what.

RAID in Semi-dedicated Servers

The NVMe drives that are used for storing any site content uploaded to the semi-dedicated server accounts that we provide function in RAID-Z. This is a specific configuration where one or more disk drives are used for parity i.e. the system will include an additional bit to any data copied on this kind of a disk drive. In case that a disk fails and is replaced with a new one, what info will be copied on the latter shall be a mix calculated between the data on the other hard disks and that on the parity one. This is done to guarantee that the data on the new drive will be correct. Throughout the process, the RAID will continue functioning normally and the malfunctioning drive won't have an impact on the adequate operation of your sites in any way. Using NVMes in RAID-Z is an outstanding addition to the ZFS file system which runs on our cutting-edge cloud platform with regards to preserving the integrity of your files as ZFS uses unique digital identifiers called checksums in order to prevent silent data corruption.

RAID in VPS Servers

If you take advantage of one of our VPS server packages, any content which you upload will be stored on NVMe drives which operate in RAID. At least one drive is used for parity to ensure the integrity of the info. In simple terms, this is a special drive where info is copied with one bit added to it. If a disk inside the RAID breaks down, your Internet sites will continue working and when a new disk substitutes the faulty one, the bits of the info that will be duplicated on it are calculated using the healthy and the parity drives. By doing this, any probability of corrupting data during the process is prevented. We also employ conventional hard disk drives that function in RAID for storing backups, so should you add this service to your VPS plan, your site content will be saved on multiple drives and you will never need to worry about its integrity even in the event of multiple drive failures.