RAID 5 is a storage configuration that uses striping with parity, providing both improved performance and fault tolerance. It requires a minimum of three disks, where data and parity information are distributed across all drives. The storage capacity of a RAID 5 array is calculated as (N - 1) * S, where N is the number of drives, and S is the size of each drive.
Storage Requirements:
* Initial Storage: 1TB
* After 1 Year: Doubles to 2TB
* After 2 Years: Doubles again to 4TB
To accommodate 4TB of data in a RAID 5 setup, we use the formula:
(N - 1) * 1TB # 4TB
Solving for N:
N - 1 # 4
N # 5
Therefore, a minimum of 5 drives, each 1TB in size, is required to meet the projected storage needs. This configuration will provide a total usable capacity of 4TB, with 1TB allocated for parity to ensure fault tolerance.
References:
CompTIA Server+ Certification Exam Objectives (SK0-005): RAID Levels and Types CompTIA Server+ (SK0-005) Study Guide: Chapter on Storage Solutions