RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks)

A method of accessing multiple individual disks as if the array were one larger disk, spreading data access out over these multiple disks. RAID improves access time and reduces the risk of losing all data if one drive fails.

A way of storing the same data over multiple physical disks to ensure that if a hard disk fails a redundant copy of the data can be accessed instead. Example schemes include mirroring and RAID–5.