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A RAID controller manages multiple physical hard disk or SSD drives, combining them into one or more logical units to provide improved data performance and/or redundancy. These controllers handle the configuration, monitoring, and maintenance of RAID arrays, ensuring data integrity by distributing data and calculating parity across drives. RAID controllers can be either hardware controllers—physical cards with dedicated processors—or software controllers, which utilize the host system's CPU.

Combines Disks: A RAID controller takes multiple individual drives and presents them to the operating system as a single logical unit.

Data Distribution (Striping): Data is divided into blocks and distributed across multiple drives in the array.

Data Redundancy (Mirroring/Parity):

Mirroring: Creates identical copies of data on multiple drives.

Parity: Stores a calculated value (parity block) on the disks that can be used to reconstruct data from a failed drive.

Abstraction: The controller acts as a layer of abstraction between the physical drives and the operating system, allowing for data protection schemes without affecting the OS.