Windows Server Volume Configuration Decision Tree

Once the partition style is set, administrators configure volumes depending on the desired performance and redundancy. A simple volume uses space from only one disk and provides no fault tolerance if the physical drive fails. To combine multiple drives, a spanned volume links space across several disks into one large container, filling them one after another. For better speed, a striped volume writes data across multiple disks simultaneously, though a single disk failure will destroy the entire volume. To protect critical data, a mirrored volume duplicates data across two drives, while a RAID-5 volume balances speed and safety by distributing data and parity across three or more disks.