Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: AlmaLinux 9, Rocky Linux 9, Ubuntu 24.04 and Debian 12
Hardware RAID uses a dedicated RAID controller card (or the motherboard's controller) to combine disks. The operating system sees one disk, and the controller handles mirroring or parity.
Compared with software RAID
- It does not use the server's CPU for RAID work, and a controller with a battery- or flash-backed cache can speed up writes.
- Monitoring needs the vendor's tool (for example
storcliorssacli), and replacing a failed controller needs a compatible model. - Software RAID (
mdadm) is simpler to move between servers and is often just as fast with modern SSDs.
Note: Whichever you use, check the array's health regularly and keep backups: RAID is not a backup.
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