5 RAID Data Recovery Prevention Tips

If you have spent the time to increase your computer'sperformance by setting up a hardware RAID array, you owe it toyourself to invest a little extra time and effort in maintainingthe hard disks in your setup. Following these tips will helplimit the need for data disaster recovery in the future.

1. If you are copying information from an old harddrive ontothose being used in your array, be sure to keep the old diskaround for a while. That way, if you discover any faults orerrors in your raid array, you will still have your originaldata to work with.

2. Make sure you choose the raid level that works best for yourneeds. If you are just in need of faster reads and basicredundancy, RAID Level 1 may be your ticket. This basic levelRedundant Array of Inexpensive Disks ensures against data lossby incorporating 2 drives - one mirroring the other. Althoughthe cost per megabyte is higher, the increase in speed andprotection against data loss are well worth it.

3. If you are setting up a multi-user enviroment, creating a 3or 5 drive RAID-5 array may be your best choice for speed anddata protection. Keep in mind though, if your requirements arewrite performance sensitive, there are better alternatives.

4. If you are trying to decide between a software based orhardware based RAID array, remember, hardware based arrays donot require software to boot, have the logic within them and assuch are much more fault tolerant. Stick with a hardware arrayif you are concerned about disaster recovery planning!

5. Despite the increase in speed and performance using RAIDarrays, files can still become disorganized and corrupted. Besure to run your preferred software for scanning and checkingyour disks on a regular basis.

If you think taking the extra time to follow these tips andcare for your RAID array sounds tedious, take a few moments tocheck out the cost of raid data disaster recovery. That aloneshould make you realize that your efforts are not in vain!

James B. Allen blogs regularly about disaster recoveryplanning. To learn more about data recovery andother aspects of disaster recovery, visit James at:DisasterRecoveryData.com