LFCS · Question #777
What is the minimum number of disks required in a RAID5 array?
The correct answer is B. 3. RAID 5 requires a minimum of three disks to implement its fault-tolerant striping with distributed parity.
Question
Options
- A1
- B3
- C4
- D5
- E2
How the community answered
(38 responses)- B92% (35)
- C5% (2)
- D3% (1)
Why each option
RAID 5 requires a minimum of three disks to implement its fault-tolerant striping with distributed parity.
One disk does not provide any RAID functionality or fault tolerance.
RAID 5 uses block-level striping with distributed parity, meaning that parity information is spread across all disks in the array. To allow for the loss of any single disk while maintaining data integrity through parity reconstruction, a minimum of three physical disks is required.
Four disks is a common and valid configuration for RAID 5, but it is not the absolute minimum required.
Five disks is a valid configuration for RAID 5, but it is not the absolute minimum required.
Two disks can be used for RAID 0 (striping, no fault tolerance) or RAID 1 (mirroring), but not for RAID 5 due to its distributed parity scheme.
Concept tested: RAID levels and disk requirements
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID#RAID_5
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