None of the above ... er, below. :-)
A hard drive in a RAID array does not get used any differently than it would
be used as a stand-alone drive. Estimates and projections that a RAID array
may fail sooner are based on chance theory - if one drive has a 100% chance
of failing in two years, then with four drives in use one might be able to
expect a failure in (2 years / 4 drives == 6 months).
I don't agree with the math, nor the underlying assumption. Modern hard
drives are rated in hundreds of thousands of hours MTBF, which means no less
than eleven (!!!) years MTBF. Just because you have four of them does not
mean that the MTBF is now reduced to (11 years / 4 drives == 2.75 years) -
the chance that any one will fail is exactly the same as the chance that any
other will fail. 11 years, mean.
(If you aren't sure about MTBF, google it. Plenty of explanations out there
that tell why drives are rated in this fashion.)
(And no, I'm not going to argue the theory with anyone who posts a rebuttal.
Your electrons, your opinion, take it as you like. <g>)
--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User]
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"Seidell23231" <> wrote in message
news:27A7CB65-3833-4C8A-B46F-...
> Is the RAID 0 that hard on the hardware that it destroys or helps in
> destroying hardware? What is it in the RAID that is so destructive, that
> it
> destorys HD's before there time? In other words, the RAID 0 is basically
> detroying HD's before there time. If this is the case, I know understand
> why
> people do not recommend it.
>
> So in essence, a HD that would last say 2 years while not part of a RAID
> 0,
> may last only 6 months if in a RAID 0. Is this possible????????