What is software RAID?
Software RAID is a type of RAID implementation that uses operating system-based capabilities to create and provision RAID services.
It uses host system resources such as the CPU without a RAID controller or specialized hardware to provide RAID services. Software RAID usually requires the installation of a RAID driver or software (other than the operating system) to create and manage the RAID infrastructure. Software RAID is also known as software-based RAID.
Software RAID is usually implemented on the host system and uses its native hard drive to construct RAID. It communicates with the local disk using the local adapters or interfaces.
Software RAID is more compatible than hardware RAID. The same RAID array can be implemented on a different computer or server system with the same operating system. It's also cheaper than hardware RAID because it doesn't require much dedicated hardware other than the storage array. Since the computing power of the host system is used, the performance and reliability of software RAID is lower than that of hardware RAID.
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