Raid 6 Calculator

The RAID 6 Calculator helps users determine the total raw capacity, usable capacity, parity overhead, storage efficiency, read and write performance, and maximum failed disks supported based on the number of disks and their individual capacity.

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Step-by-Step Guide to Using the RAID 6 Calculator

Introduction

This guide provides detailed steps on how to use the RAID 6 Calculator effectively. Follow these steps to input the necessary values and understand the resulting calculations for your RAID 6 configuration.

Step 1: Input Number of Disks

  1. Locate the Number of Disks field.
  2. Enter the number of disks you intend to use. Ensure the number is between the minimum of 4 and maximum of 32 disks, as required by the RAID 6 standard.

Step 2: Input Single Disk Capacity

  1. Find the Single Disk Capacity (GB) field.
  2. Enter the capacity of a single disk in Gigabytes (GB). The capacity should range from a minimum of 1 GB to a maximum of 100000 GB.

Step 3: Select Sector Size

  1. Locate the Sector Size field, which offers a selection of sector sizes.
  2. Choose between 512 bytes (Legacy) or 4096 bytes (Advanced Format) based on your disk’s specification.

Understanding the Results

Once you have entered all necessary inputs, the calculator will provide several key outputs:

  • Total Raw Capacity: This is calculated as the number of disks multiplied by the disk capacity, representing the total storage before accounting for RAID overhead.
  • Usable Capacity: Determined by the formula (numberOfDisks – 2) * diskCapacity, this gives the actual storage available for data after parity.
  • Parity Overhead: Parity occupies the equivalent of two disk capacities, shown here to help understand the efficiency of storage usage.
  • Storage Efficiency: Calculated as ((numberOfDisks – 2) / numberOfDisks) * 100, this percentage indicates the portion of total capacity usable for data storage.
  • Minimum Read Performance: Indicates the minimum read performance expressed as a percentage of a single disk’s performance, calculated by (numberOfDisks – 2) * 100.
  • Write Performance: Calculated as (numberOfDisks – 2) * 25, it shows the write performance relative to a single disk capacity.
  • Maximum Failed Disks Supported: This number remains constant at 2 for RAID 6, indicating the number of disk failures from which data can be recovered.

Conclusion

Using these steps, you can effectively navigate the RAID 6 Calculator to determine the storage configuration that meets your needs. Input the correct values to find essential details about storage capacity and performance in a RAID 6 setup.