Raidbook, 6th Edition: A Storage System Technology Handbook

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) technology is a family of techniques for combining multiple disks under common firmware or software management to provide beneficial data availability and performance effects.
Arrays of disks that use RAID data protection techniques can sustain disk failures without losing their ability to read and write data for applications. Similarly, disk arrays that use RAID data mapping techniques can often provide substantial performance gains to applications by distributing I/O load evenly across disks with no system management or application effort.
In the eight years since its introduction, RAID technology has taken the information technology user community by storm. In 1996, IDC estimated that 70% of all disk systems sold were RAID-capable, and predicted near-ubiquity for the technology by 1999. More recent estimates set RAID-configured new disk arrays at 80% of all arrays. The RAIDbook, currently in its sixth edition, describes RAID technology in detail, and positions it in the context of commercial computer system disk storage.
As RAID technology has evolved, The RAIDbook has evolved along with it. The 6th Edition, extensively revised to reflect recent developments, contains a contemporary description of RAID technology, and now includes other architectural constructs that make up modern failure-tolerant disk systems. This book is a must for IT managers, application designers, and others who must make decisions about high-performance robust disk systems.

Paul Massiglia has been with Digital Equipment Corporation for 24 years, fifteen of them in the storage segment of Digital's business.