RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. This is a method of improving the performance and reliability of your storage media by using multiple drives. The drives are configured, so that the data is either divided between disks to distribute load, or duplicated to ensure that it can be recovered once a disk fails. Both can also be implemented together, to obtain both benefits, although more drives will be used. Hardware RAID was the initial type of RAID available, where a specially built RAID controller handles the drives so that the processes are almost transparent to the host computer. Software RAID is a newer type of RAID where no specialized hardware is needed, and the host computer is responsible for the drives. Obviously, hardware RAID is pricier compared to software RAID, due to the extra hardware that you need to purchase. The hardware is typically expensive, and adds a substantial amount to the cost of the whole system. On the flip side, the cheap software RAID c...