Linux: How To Make RAID-1 Disks Independently Bootable

The best part of Linux (imho) is the ability to replicate not only the operating system or the data but also the boot loader. This allows you to have two identical disks running RAID-1, each of which are independently bootable, should one of them fail. You can also add spare disks to the RAID-1 array to automatically use it to reconstruct the RAID-1 array when one of the RAID-1 disks fail. However configuring it may not always be the simplest. Let's see if I can simplify it for you.

The boot partition (primary partition) can be RAID-0 or RAID-1. Only a fool would configure the boot device as RAID-0 and double the chance of failure. However when you configure it as RAID-1, you are making your boot device 100% redundant and hence robust.

BTW: Can you boot on a RAID-1 drive in Windows? … NO.

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Pros & Cons of Software RAID versus Hardware RAID

In my quest to find the better service between Software RAID & Hardware RAID, I was caught RAID-handed among too many points and nitty-gritties of technical specifications and opinions. As a result of my explorations, I have developed a simple point-by-point structure to let you walk through this topic rather easily. First let us know what is a RAID and then we will delve into the details. According to wikipedia:

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks which is a technology that employs the simultaneous use of two or more hard disk drives to achieve greater levels of performance, reliability, and/or larger data volume sizes.

There are different levels of RAID. The most popular RAID formats are RAID-1 & RAID-5. However today we will not focus on the various RAID format. Let's go straight to the differences between software RAID and hardware RAID.

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