220-1101 Question 252
Single answerRedundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) 0, 1, 5, 6, 10A small accounting office is replacing a file server that stores shared spreadsheets and scanned tax documents. The office manager wants the server to remain available if a single drive fails, but the budget only allows purchasing two identical hard drives. The technician also wants a simple RAID level that is easy to rebuild and manage on entry-level hardware. Which RAID level should the technician recommend?
- A
RAID 0
- B
RAID 1
- C
RAID 5
- D
RAID 10
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The best answer is RAID 1. In a real-world A+ Core 1 scenario, technicians must match business requirements to the correct RAID level. The key details are: the office needs protection from a single drive failure, only two drives are available, and the solution should be simple to manage. RAID 1 is designed for exactly this use case because it mirrors one drive to another. RAID 0 has no redundancy, RAID 5 requires at least three disks, and RAID 10 requires at least four disks. This aligns with standard RAID best practices described by storage vendors and common CompTIA A+ objectives: choose RAID 0 for performance only, RAID 1 for basic mirroring and redundancy, RAID 5 for parity with at least three disks, RAID 6 for dual-parity with at least four disks, and RAID 10 for mirrored striped sets requiring at least four disks.
- A. Incorrect.
RAID 0 is incorrect because it stripes data across drives for improved performance but provides no fault tolerance. If either drive fails, the entire array is lost. A technician might choose this if focusing only on speed, but it does not meet the requirement for continued availability after a single-drive failure.
- B. Correct.
RAID 1 is correct because it mirrors data between two drives, allowing the system to continue operating if one drive fails. It only requires two disks, which matches the budget constraint, and it is commonly recommended for simple redundancy in small office environments where ease of management is important.
- C. Incorrect.
RAID 5 is incorrect because it provides fault tolerance with distributed parity, but it requires a minimum of three drives. Even though RAID 5 can survive one drive failure, it does not fit the budget limitation of only two identical drives.
- D. Incorrect.
RAID 10 is incorrect because it combines mirroring and striping and offers excellent performance and redundancy, but it requires a minimum of four drives. Someone might pick RAID 10 because it is highly resilient and fast, but it exceeds the hardware budget and is unnecessary for this two-drive scenario.