raid-write-hole · shipping · also Parity write hole

RAID write hole

The RAID write hole is the risk that interrupted member updates leave inconsistent parity and corrupt reconstruction of missing data.

One failed drive is recoverable only under the redundancy assumptions; inconsistent parity breaks that premise. Array parity consistency and application transaction atomicity are separate properties.

Relations

related

raid-5, parity-raid, partial-parity-log, write-intent-bitmap, crash-consistency

Limitations

• Dirty, degraded Linux MD RAID5/6 arrays may contain undetectable corruption; bypassing an assembly refusal is not a repair. [1]

Citations

1. Linux v6.12: RAID arrays, dirty/degraded assembly and bitmap metadata (accessed 2026-10-11)
2. Linux v6.12: Partial Parity Log (accessed 2026-10-11)
3. Hesela: RAID write hole, bitmap and PPL (accessed 2026-10-11)

JSON: /data/terms/raid-write-hole.json