In a data center, what is the primary purpose of RAID?

• A. Increase data redundancy
• B. Increase CPU speed
• C. Increase memory
• D. Increase network bandwidth

Answer: (A)

RAID is built to keep data available even if one of the disks fails by creating redundancy across multiple drives. This redundancy means there are extra copies or parity information that lets the system reconstruct lost data without downtime. Different RAID levels achieve this in different ways: mirroring duplicates all data on a second drive, while parity schemes store special data that can rebuild a failed drive’s contents. Some configurations can also improve performance through striping, but that performance benefit is secondary to the protection it provides. The other options don’t relate to how RAID works—CPU speed, memory, and network bandwidth are separate resources. So the primary purpose of RAID is to increase data redundancy.