Which RAID level is best known for providing redundancy and improved read performance by striping data?

RAID 5 is known for providing a good balance of redundancy and performance due to its use of striping data across multiple disks with distributed parity. In a RAID 5 array, data is split into blocks and spread across various disks, which allows for improved read performance as multiple drives can be accessed simultaneously for read operations. Additionally, RAID 5 includes a parity mechanism, which means that if one disk fails, the data can still be reconstructed using the parity information stored across the remaining disks, providing redundancy.

When a disk fails in a RAID 5 setup, the system can continue to operate, albeit in a degraded state, while the data is being rebuilt onto a replacement disk. This ability to maintain operation during a failure is a crucial advantage for environments that require high availability and data protection.

The other RAID levels mentioned do not provide the same combination of features. RAID 0 offers no redundancy by only striping, RAID 1 duplicates data for redundancy but lacks the improved read performance found in striping, and RAID 10 (which combines striping and mirroring) does provide redundancy and performance but requires a minimum of four drives and is less storage-efficient compared to RAID 5. Thus, RAID 5 stands out as the optimal choice when