1. What is RAID 6 Write Speed Calculator?

Definition: This calculator estimates the write speed performance of a RAID 6 array based on the number of drives and single drive write speed.

Purpose: Helps system administrators and storage professionals estimate RAID 6 performance for capacity planning and configuration.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the formula:

Where:

• \( \text{WriteSpeed} \) — Estimated RAID 6 write speed (MB/s)
• \( N \) — Total number of drives in the array
• \( \text{SingleWriteSpeed} \) — Write speed of an individual drive (MB/s)

Explanation: RAID 6 requires two parity calculations (hence N-2) and the write speed is halved due to the dual parity overhead.

3. Importance of RAID 6 Write Speed Calculation

Details: Understanding RAID 6 write performance helps in storage system design, performance tuning, and meeting application requirements.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter the total number of drives (minimum 3) and the write speed of a single drive. The calculator will estimate the RAID 6 array write performance.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: Why does RAID 6 have slower write performance?
A: RAID 6 requires calculating and writing two sets of parity data for each write operation, which adds significant overhead.

Q2: What's the minimum number of drives for RAID 6?
A: RAID 6 requires a minimum of 4 drives (though our formula works with 3 for calculation purposes).

Q3: How accurate is this calculation?
A: This provides a theoretical maximum. Real-world performance depends on controller, cache, workload, and other factors.

Q4: Can I improve RAID 6 write performance?
A: Yes, with battery-backed write cache, faster drives, or more drives in the array.

Q5: How does this compare to RAID 5 write speed?
A: RAID 5 typically has better write performance as it only needs to calculate one parity set (formula: (N-1)*SingleWriteSpeed).