RAID (Redundant Array of Independent or Inexpensive Disks)

"Redundant Array of Independent Drives", originally known as Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives, RAID is an umbrellaterm for data storage schemes that divide and/or replicate dataamong multiple hard drives. RAID can be designed to provideincreased reliability and/or increased I/O performance.

Originally, an acronym for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks to reflect the data accessibility and cost advantages that properly implemented arrays could provide, the acronym has evolved to mean Redundant Array of Independent Disks emphasizing the technique's potential data availability advantages over conventional disk storage systems

a series of storage technologies involving large groups of small disk drives.