Data striping

The term Data striping refers to the segmentation of logically sequential data, such as a single file, so that segments can be written to multiple physical devices (usually disk drives) in a round-robin fashion.

This technique is useful if the processor is capable of reading or writing data faster than a single disk can supply or accept it. While data is being transferred from the first disk, the second disk can locate the next segment.

Data striping is used in some modern databases, such as Sybase, and in certain RAID devices under software or hardware control, such as IBM's RAMAC array subsystem.

Data striping is different from, and may be used in conjunction with, mirroring.