The LaCie 5big Thunderbolt Series is compatible with a range of RAID options for a variety of uses. It's preconfigured as a RAID 0 striped set to unleash its full speed potential for data-intensive applications such as HD video editing. Or opt for a RAID 1 mirrored set for excellent data security. Alternatively, you could go without RAID and configure it in a JBOD. Since in a JBOD configuration all disks mount independently, many people use JBOD so that they can assign each disk to a specific data storage task. For instance, you could put backups performed on Monday on the first disk, Tuesday on the second, etc.

Another use case is a mixed configuration: three disks in a RAID 0 for speed-intensive applications and two disks in a RAID 1 for backup.

In order to create a RAID array, you'll need two disks (RAID 1) or at least two disks (RAID 0) that aren't already included in another RAID. Follow the below links for instructions:

• Delete a RAID Array
• Create a RAID Array

A Striped RAID Set pairs the drives within an enclosure for enhanced transfer rates. Data is stored across all disks in a striped pair, allowing them to share the demands of reading and writing files. Unlike a Mirrored Striped Set (RAID 1), the available capacities of each disk are added together for maximum storage availability. With its improved read/write seek rates and maximum storage capacity, a Striped RAID Set is a great complement to the extraordinary performance already offered by Thunderbolt technology. Data is also easy to access since a RAID 0 stripe creates one logical volume that mounts on the desktop. One disadvantage of a Striped RAID Set is the lack of built-in data security. In the event that one disk fails, all the files become inaccessible since parts of each string of data are written across the striped pair. Therefore, LaCie highly recommends backing up data stored on a Striped RAID Set at least once a day. You can back up the data to your computer’s internal disk or another storage medium with sufficient capacity.

In a Mirrored RAID Set, the physical disks are mirrored together so that one single logical volume mounts on the desktop. Please note that the combined storage will not exceed the available capacity of the lowest-capacity single disk. All data is saved simultaneously on each disk which means that files will not be lost if one drive should fail. A Mirrored RAID set always consists for two disks. Therefore, since the LaCie 5big has five disks, you can create two separate sets (each with two disks). A total of three volumes will then mount on your computer: one for each of the two mirrored sets, and one single-disk (and non-mirrored) volume.

JBOD is not technically a RAID mode, since all disks are independent, with no collective properties. Each physical disk is mapped to a different logical volume. As a result, one volume for each disk will mount on the computer. No protection is provided, so if a disk fails, all data contained on that disk is lost.