Which RAID type is optimal for a Lotus Notes server? Also what is RAID-5E?

RELATED CONTENT RAID The pros and cons of RAID disk arrays in small business data storage environments RAID disk arrays in small business data storage environments Find the right RAID level for your data storage systems Examining RAID levels: RAID 0 through RAID 6 Software RAID versus hardware RAID: Pros and cons Recovering from a two-drive failure in a RAID 10 configuration Making the most of your storage resources: Improving storage utilisation Which RAID level has the best price-to-performance comparison? Pivot3 and Seanodes increase performance, scalability of iSCSI storage products Should RAID 5 configurations include different disk volumes?

RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary

EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: Clive Longbottom Pose a Question Other Storage UK Categories Meet all Storage UK Experts Become an Expert for this site

ANSWERED January 2009:
With Lotus Notes, speed is important, so a degree of striping will be necessary. However, most organisations using Notes/Domino are also pretty dependent on the system, so a degree of high availability is required, which points to mirroring. Therefore, RAID 5 would seem to be the way to go. RAID 10 (RAID 1+0) would offer the most cost effective way to go, provided that the higher performance efficiencies of RAID 5 aren't required, or RAID 50 (RAID 5+0) would provide the best performance - but at a cost. RAID 5E is RAID 5 with an extra redundant disk, so providing a higher level of capability to deal with more than one single disk failure.