
Information Systems Hardware ◾ 83
Enterprise Storage Subsystems
Compared to the ideal storage device, disk drives have several drawbacks. ey are slower
than one might wish, they fail from time to time, their interfaces are designed for attaching
to a single computer, and they do not provide the mix of speed and cost that an enterprise
with a lot of data requires. To overcome such problems, storage devices are combined into
storage subsystems. Individual users seldom need these, but they are essential to large orga-
nizations. ree types of storage subsystems are used today.
RAID RAID stands for redundant array of independent (originally