What is the maximum number of hard drives required per RAID set when configuring RAID 50?

When configuring RAID 50, the setup is a combination of RAID 5 arrays that are striped together. For RAID 5, a minimum of three hard drives is required to create a single array, as it uses distributed parity to provide redundancy and fault tolerance.

In RAID 50, at least two RAID 5 sets must be combined, which means you would need at least three drives for the first RAID 5 set and three drives for the second set, making it a total of six drives to fully utilize the advantages of RAID 50. However, per RAID set (individual RAID 5 array), the minimum necessary is three drives.

The configuration allows for enhanced performance and redundancy because data is both striped across the arrays typical of RAID 0 and has the fault tolerance characteristics of RAID 5. Consequently, the option of three drives aligns with the minimum requirements for each RAID 5 subset within the RAID 50 configuration, making it the correct answer to the question.