Dell Precision T3400 User's Guide - Page 43

About RAID Configurations This section provides an overview of the RAID configuration you may have selected when you purchased your computer. There are several RAID configurations available in the computer industry for different types of uses. Your Dell Precicion computer supports RAID level 0, RAID level 1, RAID level 5, or RAID level 10, also known as RAID level 1+0. A RAID level 0 configuration is recommended for high-performance programs, and a RAID level 1 configuration is recommended for users that desire a high level of data integrity. All drives must be the same type (SAS and SATA drives cannot be mixed in a RAID array) and should also be the same size to ensure that the larger drive does not contain unallocated (and therefore unusable) space. The Intel RAID controller on your computer can only create a RAID level 0 configuration using two or three physical drives. If a third or fourth drive is present, then the drive(s) can be made part of a RAID level 0 configuration using the Intel RAID configuration program, or the drive(s) can be used as a spare drive in a RAID level 1 configuration (see "Creating a Spare Hard Drive" on page 59). NOTE: RAID levels do not represent a hierarchy. A RAID level 10 configuration is not inherently better or worse than a RAID level 0 configuration. Using RAID with Hard Drive Passwords If you are using the hard drive security option available in System Setup you should not use a RAID configuration. Using a RAID configuration requires that the hard drive password be cleared to allow data access. About RAID Configurations 43