Workload choice

RAID 5 or RAID 10?

Compare capacity efficiency, mirror-pair rebuild behavior, drive count, and workload characteristics before choosing a protected array layout.

Best fit

RAID 5

Capacity-oriented arrays where one-drive tolerance and a verified recovery path fit the stated risk boundary.

  • • Uses one drive equivalent for parity.
  • • Degraded-array behavior and workload need consideration.
  • • Does not replace an independent backup.

Best fit

RAID 10

Workloads where mirror-pair rebuild behavior and random I/O characteristics justify the capacity tradeoff.

  • • Usually provides about half of raw capacity.
  • • Requires an even drive count.
  • • Multiple-drive survival depends on which mirror pairs fail.

Decision rule

Use the same capacity target and drive count for both layouts. Choose RAID 10 only when its workload and rebuild characteristics matter enough to justify the additional capacity cost.

Build the storage baselineCalculate RAID capacity

Editorial record

Maintained by Make Your Own Tools to turn “Store data safely” into a defined capacity, bays, redundancy, and recovery baseline. The references below provide the technical context for this planning path. Its calculation rules and planning assumptions are documented in the methodology, and affected calculations pass regression checks before the review date advances.

Last reviewed
Evidence set
2 primary references
Read methodology →
Planning scope
Equal-size drive capacity and layout comparison.
Next check
Performance benchmarks for specific hardware.
Synology RAID CalculatorCapacity estimation for supported Synology drive combinations.Open source ↗CISA ransomware guideIndependent backups and recovery-testing guidance.Open source ↗