Difference Between RAID 0 and RAID 1

RAID or Redundant Array of Independent Disk is a set of disk organization techniques developed to increase the reliability and performance of a system. There are various types of RAID techniques such as RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 2,… RAID 5.

Read this article to learn more about RAID 0 and RAID 1 and how they are different from each other.

What is RAID 0?

RAID 0 stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disk level 0. There is no redundant data stored here, so performance is very good. But the failure of any disk in the array results in loss of data.

In RAID 0, a single record is divided into strips of typically 512 bytes, and it is stored across all disks. The record can be accessed at faster speed by reading all disks simultaneously, which is called as striping.

The RAID 0 technique provides "n" times increase in the data transfer rate, where "n" is the number of disks. The major disadvantage of RAID 0 is that the data cannot be retrieved even if a single disk fails to work.

What is RAID 1?

RAID 1 stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disk level 1. RAID 1 uses disk mirroring technique, in which the similar data is stored on two separate disks.

In RAID 1 configuration, the data in the similar data that can be accessed in less time is used and a parallel read is also executed when there is no error. When a record is written/updated by a process, a copy of this record is written on each disk every time. Thus, there is always a copy of the record available to access. In this way, RAID 1 provides a mirror protection and improves the fault tolerance.

Difference between RAID 0 and RAID 1

The following table highlights all the important differences between RAID 0 and RAID 1 −

S.No.	RAID 0	RAID 1
1.	It stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disk level 0.	It stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disk level 1.
2.	In this technology, disk stripping is used.	This technology uses disk mirroring technique.
3.	This technology is inexpensive.	It is an expensive method.
4.	It doesn't have a write penalty.	It comes with a write penalty.
5.	The relative storage efficiency of this technology is 100%.	The relative storage efficiency of this technology is 50%.
6.	The write performance of this technology is better than RAID 1.	The write performance of RAID 1 is lesser in comparison to RAID 0.
7.	It emphasizes on the speed of data access.	The emphasis here is on the availability of the data.
8.	It provides good performance for read operation.	It gives moderate performance for read operation.
9.	It doesn't provide any protection.	It provides mirror protection.

Conclusion

The most significant difference that you should note here is that RAID 0 uses disk the stripping technique, while RAID 1 uses the mirroring technique.