striped RAID set

When you have more than one disk, you can create a striped Redundant Array of Independent Disks, or striped RAID set, for faster disk access. A striped RAID set is especially useful for large files, such as digital video and database files.

A striped RAID set works best if the disks are about the same size and are connected to your computer via fast connections. Consider the following:

• If the disks are different sizes, a striped RAID set treats all the disks as if they are the size of the smallest one. If you have disks of different sizes, you might want to use a concatenated disk set, which doesn’t give you the speed advantage of a striped RAID set, but lets you use the full capacity of all its disks.

• If the disks are connected to the computer with slow connections, such as USB connections, you might not get faster disk access, even with a striped RAID set. For best results, use disks with fast connections, such as internal disks.