by Tom Nelson
RAID 10 is a nested RAID system created by combining RAID 1 and RAID 0. The combination is known as a stripe of mirrors. In this arrangement, data is striped much as it is in a RAID 0 array. The difference is that each member of the striped set has its data mirrored. This ensures that if any single drive in the RAID 10 array fails, the data isn’t lost.
Image courtesy of JaviMZN
One way to think of a RAID 10 array is as a RAID 0 with an online backup of each RAID element ready to go, should a drive fail.
RAID 10 requires a minimum of four drives and can be expanded in pairs; you can have a RAID 10 array with 4, 6, 8, 10, or more drives. RAID 10 should be composed of equal-size drives.
