1. What is RAID 5 Read Speed Calculator?

Definition: This calculator estimates the read speed performance of a RAID 5 array based on the number of drives and their individual read speeds.

Purpose: It helps IT professionals and system administrators understand the potential read performance of their RAID 5 storage configuration.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the formula:

Where:

• \( \text{ReadSpeed} \) — Total read speed of RAID 5 array (MB/s)
• \( N \) — Number of drives in the array
• \( \text{SingleReadSpeed} \) — Read speed of an individual drive (MB/s)

Explanation: RAID 5 provides parallel read operations across all drives, allowing for read speeds that scale with the number of drives.

3. Importance of RAID 5 Read Performance

Details: Understanding read performance helps in capacity planning, performance tuning, and ensuring storage systems meet application requirements.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter the number of drives (minimum 3) and the read speed of a single drive. All values must be positive numbers.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: Why does RAID 5 read speed scale with drive count?
A: RAID 5 can distribute read operations across all drives simultaneously, unlike writes which require parity calculations.

Q2: What's a typical single drive read speed?
A: Modern HDDs typically achieve 100-200 MB/s, while SSDs can reach 500-3500 MB/s depending on the technology.

Q3: Does this account for controller limitations?
A: No, this is theoretical maximum. Actual performance may be lower due to controller bottlenecks or system overhead.

Q4: How does write speed compare in RAID 5?
A: Write speed is typically slower due to parity calculations, often N-1 times single drive write speed for large sequential writes.

Q5: What's the minimum number of drives for RAID 5?
A: RAID 5 requires a minimum of 3 drives to provide both redundancy and performance benefits.