Which description best fits RAID 10?

RAID 10, also known as RAID 1+0, is a configuration that combines the features of both mirroring and striping. This means that it creates a set of mirrored volumes, which are then striped across multiple disks. The mirroring aspect ensures data redundancy—if one disk fails, the data remains safe on the mirrored counterpart. The striping part enhances performance by allowing simultaneous reading/writing operations across the disks.

By utilizing both mirroring and striping, RAID 10 provides excellent fault tolerance and improved read/write speeds. This combination allows for quicker access to data while still maintaining a safeguard against data loss in the event of a disk failure. The configuration requires a minimum of four drives, as at least two disks are needed for mirroring each of the stripe sets.

In contrast, the other options focus on elements that do not encapsulate the full nature of RAID 10. Options that mention only mirroring without striping or striping with distributed parity would not accurately describe the RAID 10 configuration, as they either miss the critical aspect of striping or introduce different RAID technology characteristics.