Most SK0-005 candidates can recite RAID definitions. The ones who struggle on exam day are those who cannot apply them. The Storage and Server Hardware domain does not just ask what RAID 5 is – it asks which RAID level belongs in a specific design scenario and why.
Performance-based questions on the SK0-005 are built around exactly this kind of decision logic. If you can read a scenario, identify the design priorities and map them to the right RAID choice, you are already ahead of most candidates.
This guide gives you a practical RAID refresher, a decision-making framework and real scenario walkthroughs – everything mapped to SK0-005 exam logic.
Quick RAID Level Refresher
Before diving into scenarios, a fast alignment on the core RAID levels saves time later. The exam does not reward memorization alone – it rewards understanding the trade-offs each level represents.
| RAID Level | Key Strength | Key Weakness | Min Drives |
| RAID 0 | Maximum throughput | No redundancy | 2 |
| RAID 1 | Simple mirroring | 50% usable capacity | 2 |
| RAID 5 | Balanced redundancy + capacity | Single parity, slower writes | 3 |
| RAID 6 | Tolerates 2 disk failures | Slower writes than RAID 5 | 4 |
| RAID 10 | Best performance + redundancy | Expensive, 50% usable capacity | 4 |
The trade-off triangle – performance, redundancy and cost – sits behind every exam scenario involving storage design. Once you internalize that triangle, RAID questions become pattern recognition rather than guesswork.
RAID Design Priorities and Trade-Off Logic
Understanding RAID levels in isolation is one thing. Knowing which to choose under specific constraints is what the SK0-005 actually tests.
Four variables drive every RAID design decision: the performance requirement, the fault tolerance need, the capacity efficiency target and the available budget. Most exam scenarios give you two or three of these variables and ask you to identify the RAID level that satisfies all of them simultaneously. Candidates who reinforce this decision framework with quality SK0-005 Exam Dumps find that repeated scenario exposure makes this pattern recognition feel natural well before exam day.
Practical Design Scenarios
Scenario 1 – File Server for a Small Business
A small business needs shared file storage that maximizes usable capacity, tolerates a single disk failure and fits a moderate budget. The workload involves general file sharing with moderate read and write activity.
RAID 5 is the right answer here. It delivers the best usable capacity among redundant options, handles a single disk failure through distributed parity and works well with the balanced workload. On the SK0-005, watch for clue phrases like “maximizing usable space” and “tolerate one disk failure” – these are direct signals pointing toward parity-based RAID. The moment you see both in the same scenario, RAID 5 should come to mind immediately.
Scenario 2 – Enterprise Database Server
An enterprise needs storage for a high-transaction database with heavy mixed read and write operations. Downtime is not acceptable and recovery speed after a disk failure is critical.
RAID 10 fits this scenario precisely. It combines mirroring and striping to deliver both the performance a transaction-heavy database demands and the redundancy an enterprise cannot compromise on. RAID 5 and RAID 6 have slower write performance due to parity calculation, which makes them poor choices for high I/O environments. Exam clue phrases here include “high transaction rates,” “fast recovery,” and “minimal downtime” – any combination of those signals RAID 10.
Scenario 3 – Temporary Compute or Scratch Workload
A development team needs temporary high-speed scratch storage for a compute job. The data can be regenerated if lost and performance is the only priority.
RAID 0 is the correct choice. It uses full raw capacity, delivers the fastest possible I/O and carries no overhead from parity or mirroring. The trade-off is total vulnerability to disk failure, which is acceptable here because the data is ephemeral. The exam phrase “data can be regenerated” is the clearest signal that redundancy is irrelevant in the scenario and RAID 0 is the intended answer.
Hardware vs Software RAID
The SK0-005 also distinguishes between hardware and software RAID implementations and this nuance matters more than candidates expect.
Hardware RAID uses a dedicated controller that handles all RAID processing independently of the server CPU. This delivers consistently better performance, especially under sustained load and offloads processing overhead from the operating system. Software RAID uses OS resources instead, which reduces hardware cost but introduces CPU dependency and can affect performance under heavy workloads.
The exam typically favors hardware RAID when a scenario involves production workloads, high performance requirements, or enterprise environments with budget for a controller. Software RAID fits SMB or lab environments where cost is the primary constraint.
Closing Tips and PBQ Strategy
Scenario-based questions and performance-based tasks on the SK0-005 consistently reward candidates who read for design intent rather than surface keywords. When you see performance, redundancy and cost mentioned together, map each constraint to the RAID trade-off triangle before selecting an answer.
Pay close attention to minimum disk failure tolerance as an explicit clue – “must survive two simultaneous disk failures” eliminates every option except RAID 6 or RAID 10 immediately. Similarly, questions asking for maximum IOPS with redundancy narrow directly to RAID 10. Candidates who supplement their preparation with reliable CompTIA Exam Practice Tests find that repeated exposure to this scenario logic makes PBQ-style questions feel familiar rather than intimidating by exam day.
Memorize the decision logic, not just the specs. That is the difference between knowing RAID and being able to use it under exam pressure.
Conclusion
RAID design on the SK0-005 is fundamentally a problem-solving exercise. Every scenario gives you constraints and your job is to find the RAID level that satisfies all of them. Master the trade-off triangle, internalize the scenario clue patterns and practice applying that logic across varied question types.
The candidates who pass are not those who memorized the most definitions – they are the ones who trained their thinking to match how the exam actually asks questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How many RAID levels are tested on the SK0-005 exam?
The SK0-005 primarily focuses on RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 and 10. These cover the full range of performance and redundancy trade-offs the Storage and Server Hardware domain tests. Nested RAID levels beyond RAID 10 are rarely tested in meaningful depth, so concentrating your energy on these five core levels and their design applications gives you the best return on study time.
Q2: Is RAID 5 still recommended for modern storage systems on the SK0-005?
For exam purposes, RAID 5 remains a valid and commonly tested choice for balanced file server environments. In real-world practice, very large drive capacities have increased RAID 5 rebuild times and the risk of an unrecoverable read error during reconstruction. The SK0-005 may touch on this limitation, so understanding both why RAID 5 is used and where RAID 6 offers an advantage helps you handle nuanced scenario questions confidently.
Q3: What is the difference between RAID 5 and RAID 6 in exam scenarios?
Both use striping with parity, but RAID 6 uses dual parity to tolerate two simultaneous disk failures instead of one. The exam signals this distinction through phrases like “must survive two disk failures” or “critical data with no tolerance for double failure.” RAID 6 also has slower write performance due to the additional parity calculation, which can appear as a trade-off consideration in performance-focused scenarios.
Q4: Do SK0-005 performance-based questions require hands-on RAID configuration experience?
SK0-005 typically present a scenario with constraints and ask you to select or justify a design decision rather than perform live configuration. Practical familiarity with RAID concepts helps significantly, but the exam rewards decision-making logic more than command-line execution. Practicing with well-designed scenario questions – particularly those found in quality SK0-005 exam dumps – builds the pattern recognition needed to work through PBQs efficiently under time pressure.