1xSSD, 2x Hybrid in Raid0, 2 x HDD in raid1 set up

mickeyfinagin · 14 Sep 2013 at 19:14

Hi.
Im looking at doing a fresh install onto my computer.

At present i have a M4 256gb ssd, a 1TB hdd and a 2TB hdd.

Motherboard - Asus P8P67 PRO

My plan is to do a secure erase on my ssd, then load windows7 and Origin games onto that. Then try to keep it clear as possible

I then want to Raid0 2 x 360gb hybrid hdd for Steam games only.( not to worried if they fail as steam cloud back up)
And
2 x 1TB hdd in Raid1 for my movies and music.( for a kind of real time back up as well as my external back up)
And
the 2 TB for all the other rubbish I have, Programes etc.

I have not done a raid set up before, my question is this -

What is the best way to set this up.

ssd to AHCI mode, then what do i need to do for the raid set ups.

or
Should i not worry about Raid1 and buy one of the Nas style enclosures and put 2 x 1tb hdds in raid 1 ( this i believe is a proper back up rather than just a mechanical back up).

Something like a -Synology DS213J Network Attached Storage Enclosure.

I have the components ( not the NAS Box yet), so any advice greatly received.

Cold_And_Miserable · 14 Sep 2013 at 19:56

RAID-1 is for redundancy, not backup.

For backup use an external drive and store it in a safe location.

mickeyfinagin · 14 Sep 2013 at 20:09

PanMaster said:
RAID-1 is for redundancy, not backup.

For backup use an external drive and store it in a safe location.

Thanks.
I do do an external back up as well, but not on a regular enough basis.
I want something that would back up any new movies/music/photos i put onto my computers hdd automatically, then when i get round to it I can also do a manual back up.

Is a Nas system the better way to go.

Any advice is welcome,

FreeStream · 15 Sep 2013 at 16:37

Firstly RAID is not a suitable option.

I use the following (software I use for 2 & 3 (CCC) does archiving of deleted files).

1. Local disk (Time machine - hourly backups)
2. NAS (daily)
3. eSATA (plugged in weekly)
4. Clone of 3 that lives in another location backed up when I'm about.

So 1 master copy + 3/4 others (photo disk is only to 2, 3, 4 due to size).

I've probably gone over the top, but I've lost stuff either through my own stupidity or disk failures so I have multiple copies!!

mickeyfinagin · 15 Sep 2013 at 20:55

Concorde Rules said:
Firstly RAID is not a suitable option.

I use the following (software I use for 2 & 3 (CCC) does archiving of deleted files).

1. Local disk (Time machine - hourly backups)
2. NAS (daily)
3. eSATA (plugged in weekly)
4. Clone of 3 that lives in another location backed up when I'm about.

So 1 master copy + 3/4 others (photo disk is only to 2, 3, 4 due to size).

I've probably gone over the top, but I've lost stuff either through my own stupidity or disk failures so I have multiple copies!!

Thank you for the advice. It looks like a software tool and Nas system is probably the way to go.

Unfortynatly it looks like CCC is only for macs, can anyone recommend any free software which does the same thing.

I would still like to set my hybrids up in raid0, i take it I set my ssd up AHCI in the bios, then how do i set the hybrids up for raid0

Clav · 16 Sep 2013 at 13:08

mickeyfinagin said:
I would still like to set my hybrids up in raid0, i take it I set my ssd up AHCI in the bios, then how do i set the hybrids up for raid0

You either put sata mode (in bios) to raid and raid them together at that level. Or leave it as ahci and set them up as a stripe with windows raid.

mickeyfinagin · 17 Sep 2013 at 03:10

Clav said:
You either put sata mode (in bios) to raid and raid them together at that level. Or leave it as ahci and set them up as a stripe with windows raid.

Thank you for your advice, i will give the second option a go and see how things go.

Im probably making things to complicated for myself, the back up solution can wait for a while.