 BeyondRAID™
leverages the benefits of traditional RAID systems, while leaving many
of the limitations behind. This next-generation of redundant storage
technology brings together safety, reliability, expandability,
efficiency and ease-of-use.
BeyondRAID fits in the same place of the software stack
as traditional RAID between the file system and the driver. Hence,
BeyondRAID can be adopted without any change in infrastructure, allowing
you to maintain your current file system and operating system, while
eliminating the friction costs typically associated with moving to a new
technology platform.
Problems with Traditional RAID
IT managers are faced with the complicated question of which one of the
eleven traditional RAID levels they should deploy for their business
storage.
Traditional RAID suffers from two major disadvantages:
1) Lock-in of RAID levels for the lifecycle of the data
2) a forced tradeoff between simplicity vs. safety and stability vs. expandability
As business conditions change over time, IT managers are obliged to
choose between purchasing a new RAID array and the cost and effort of
redeploying a more appropriate RAID level.
BeyondRAID is RAID without Regrets
Data Robotics BeyondRAID solves these two critical issues, delivering
flexibility without downtime. Built on an advanced storage
virtualization platform, BeyondRAID chooses the correct RAID algorithm
based on data protection needs at any given moment. Since the technology
works at the block level, it can write blocks of data that alternate
between data protection methodologies. If an IT manager needs to add
storage capacity to a Drobo product, he or she can simply insert
additional disk drives or replace the smallest disks—no need to change
RAID levels, purchase a new storage array or go through the complex
administration of pooling RAID groups. The BeyondRAID feature even
allows IT managers to switch from single to dual disk redundancy with a
single click, thereby ensuring enterprise-level dual parity data
protection if required.
Head-to-head with Traditional RAID
Feature by feature, BeyondRAID consistently beats traditional
RAID. If you already understand how RAID 0, 1, 5 or 6 operates, you’ll
understand the fundamentals of BeyondRAID as it relies on the same
underlying data protection methodologies, namely mirroring and striping
with single or dual parity. The difference is in how BeyondRAID
interacts with the storage itself.
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