What is the difference between Hardware RAID and Software RAID?

Hardware RAID and Software RAID are two types of RAID. RAID is the short form of a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. This is used to enhance the performance of the storage media simply by using different drives. The use of RAID starts by configuring these drives so that they can be very easy to use when duplicating data, or so that they can be used to distribute load across the disks.

Hardware RAID has been around for some time now, and this shows it is the older of the two, while software RAID is just a recent technology. It is very easy to think that hardware RAID will be quite expensive compared to the software RAID, owning to the fact that you will need to purchase extra hardware before you can use hardware RAID. However, one of the downsides of software RAID is that the software can reduce the performance of the host computer.

Hardware RAID and Software RAID are two types of RAID. RAID is the short form of a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. This is used to enhance the performance of the storage media simply by using different drives.

The use of RAID starts by configuring these drives so that they can be very easy to use when duplicating data, or so that they can be used to distribute load across the disks. Hardware RAID has been around for some time now, and this shows it is the older of the two, while software RAID is just a recent technology.

It is very easy to think that hardware RAID will be quite expensive compared to the software RAID, owning to the fact that you will need to purchase extra hardware before you can use hardware RAID. However, one of the downsides of software RAID is that the software can reduce the performance of the host computer.

RAID in software RAID and hardware RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. Between the two, Hardware RAID is older. It was the first available and was controlled by the RAID controller. Software RAID is newer and does not require any type of hardware. This is because the computer that is hosting is in charge of the drives.

Though software RAID is newer, hardware RAID is looked at as having a better performance and being more reliable. As it has better performance, the hardware RAID is more expensive. A benefit of the software RAID is that is less likely to be corrupted.

First of all, the full meaning of RAID is Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. Hardware RAID refers to the type of RAID that was initially available, where the drive is handled by a RAID controller that is specially built, to make the whole process transparent to the host computer. On the contrary, software RAID is happens to be a newer and modern type of RAID that needs no specialized hardware, and the host computer takes responsibility for the drives.

The hardware RAID, however, is considered to be of better performance and reliability compared to software RAID. Due to these factors of the two RAIDs, the hardware RAID is found to be more expensive than the software RAID. The software RAID handles just a portion of the host processor, while the hardware RAID controller handles all the host processor operations. A software RAID data are also more liable to be corrupted, while the hardware RAID seems to be more secure.