Every production team, whether a small workgroup or a global facility, needs storage that keeps media safe and available. The kind of protection you need depends on scale. That’s why EditShare EFS uses two layers of redundancy:
- RAID 6 inside each node for intra-drive-level protection in smaller setups
- XOR parity distributes data and parity blocks across multiple nodes, enabling recovery from the complete failure of a single node
This approach ensures you get the right balance of efficiency, performance, and resilience at any size.
Protection for Small Teams: RAID 6
On a single node, EFS uses RAID 6. This means your system can survive two drive failures in that node without losing access to your media. For many small teams, that’s enough resilience to keep projects moving while drives are swapped out.
Protection for Large Teams: XOR Across Nodes
When you grow into three or more nodes, EFS adds cluster-level protection. This is where XOR parity comes in.
XOR (short for Exclusive OR) is the math behind parity. It works by comparing blocks of data across drives and recording a checksum. If one drive or even an entire node is lost, the system can rebuild the missing data by recalculating it from the remaining blocks.
In EFS, this means:
- The cluster can tolerate the failure of a full node, in an EFS 310 deployment up to 16 drives, without taking your media offline.
- Your system doesn’t lose a heartbeat, nor does it lose bandwidth, as we have calculated that level of protection into the bandwidth numbers we provide you.
- Recovery is faster than with traditional RAID because data and parity are spread across multiple nodes, reducing stress on any single drive.
Why Not Mirroring?
Mirroring works by duplicating everything, which is simple but expensive, you lose half your storage capacity to redundancy. At the Petabyte scale, that cost adds up quickly. EFS gives you stronger protection without wasting space.
Bottom Line
For small systems, RAID 6 keeps your media safe at the drive level. As you scale, XOR parity across nodes takes protection further, guarding against node failures while maintaining performance and efficiency.
With EFS, you don’t have to rethink storage as you grow; resilience and linear bandwidth scale with you.
FAQ: How EFS Protects Your Media
What’s the difference between RAID 6 and XOR parity?
RAID 6 protects data at the drive level within a single node, allowing up to two drives to fail without data loss. XOR parity works at the cluster level, distributing data and parity across multiple nodes so that even if an entire node fails, media remains online and accessible.
Do I need more than RAID 6 protection?
If you’re a smaller team running a single EFS node, RAID 6 is usually enough. Once you scale to three or more nodes, XOR parity provides additional protection against full-node failures, which becomes critical at larger sizes.
Will XOR parity slow down my system?
No. EFS factors XOR parity into its bandwidth calculations. You get the published performance numbers with parity protection included, so your throughput stays consistent even under protection.
How does EFS recovery compare to traditional RAID rebuilds?
Traditional RAID puts stress on a limited number of drives during rebuilds, which can be slow. EFS spreads data and parity across multiple nodes, so recovery is faster and less taxing on any single drive.
Why not use mirroring for protection?
Mirroring duplicates all data, which is simple but highly inefficient. It cuts usable capacity in half, which is costly at petabyte scale. EFS provides strong protection without wasting storage.
What happens if a full node fails in EFS?
In a cluster with three or more nodes, the system stays online and maintains bandwidth. Media remains available, and the missing data is rebuilt automatically from parity.
Does protection scale as I grow my system?
Yes. As you add nodes, EFS automatically extends resilience and scales bandwidth. You don’t have to redesign your setup or rethink protection as your needs increase.
