RAID tradeoff between disk capacity and the availability. The cost is basically due to the tradeoff between disk capacity and the availability or performance of additional data. For example, RAID 1, RAID 10 and small RAID 6 disk counts are costly (50 percent) in terms of lost disk space, but high in availability of data. Performance also depends on the pattern of access (random / sequential, read / write, long / short) and user numbers.

Use our free RAID Calculator

A RAID solution is definitely the way to go, whether it is hardware failover or improved input / output performance. This RAID calculator tool uses three key metrics to calculate important specifications for a RAID array. After entering the RAID mode, single disk size, and quantity of disks, the RAID calculator will give you the raw storage size as well as the usable storage size. Before you chose your RAID configuration, you should use our free raid calculator tool so you know just how much space will be available to you.