Introduction to RAID

When we use a disk, we sometimes wish it to be faster; I/O operations are slow and thus can be the bottleneck for the entire system. When we use a disk, we sometimes wish it to be larger; more and more data is being put online and thus our disks are getting fuller and fuller. When we use a disk, we sometimes wish for it to be more reliable. When a disk fails, if our data isn’t backed up, all that valuable data is gone.

CRUX: HOW TO MAKE A LARGE, FAST, RELIABLE DISK

How can we make a large, fast, and reliable storage system? What are the key techniques? What are the trade-offs between different approaches?