Cisco Cyber Security Practice Exam

In what way does RAID improve data availability?

1. By providing faster data access

2. By ensuring fault tolerance during drive failures

3. By securing data with encryption

4. By reducing power consumption

The correct answer is: By ensuring fault tolerance during drive failures

RAID, or Redundant Array of Independent Disks, enhances data availability primarily through its ability to ensure fault tolerance during drive failures. This means that if one disk in the RAID array fails, the data can still be accessed from the remaining disks without interruption. Different RAID levels offer various configurations for redundancy, such as mirroring or striping with parity, which allow the system to continue operating while maintaining data integrity even in the event of hardware malfunctions. The focus on fault tolerance is critical because data availability is fundamentally about ensuring that users can access their data when needed, without significant downtime. By designing systems that can withstand single or multiple disk failures, RAID configurations play a vital role in maintaining operational continuity. Other options, while they may offer benefits, do not directly contribute to the specific goal of improving data availability. For instance, faster data access may enhance overall system performance, but it does not address scenarios where data may become unavailable due to hardware issues. Similarly, security through encryption protects data from unauthorized access but does not influence its availability. Reducing power consumption is advantageous for energy efficiency but, again, does not impact access to data during a failure. Thus, ensuring fault tolerance during drive failures is the key factor that directly enhances data availability through RAID