TestOut LabSim A+ Certification Practice Exam

For optimal performance in RAID configurations, which factor is most important?

1. Type of drives used

2. Amount of RAM

3. Number of disks in the array

4. Speed of the CPU

The correct answer is: Number of disks in the array

In RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) configurations, the number of disks in the array plays a crucial role in determining performance. More disks can significantly enhance read and write speeds because data can be distributed across multiple drives, allowing for parallel processing. This parallelism is especially beneficial in RAID levels like RAID 0 and RAID 10, where data is either striped or mirrored, respectively. When utilizing multiple disks, the RAID controller can access multiple data streams simultaneously, which improves throughput and reduces latency. Therefore, increasing the number of disks generally leads to better performance, particularly in scenarios that require high data transfer rates or in environments with heavy I/O operations. While the type of drives used can also influence performance, it is primarily through the mechanism of combining multiple drives in an array that one maximizes performance. The amount of RAM and speed of the CPU contribute to overall system performance but are less critical in the specific context of RAID's performance optimization than the number of disks in the array.