RAID or other backup methods

Scottland

Scottland

Scottland

Soldato
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Having had a couple of drives fail in the last couple of months, I need to get off my backside and sort out a decent backup solution.

I've got 2 500gb drives, would adding a third and creating a RIAD 5 array be adequate for this purpose - or should I be looking for another solution?

I'd rather not have 2 RAID 0 arrays, but having a spare drive and making weekly backups of data isn't exactly ideal either.


I'd appreciate any input, thanks :)
 
RAID isn't a form of backup on its own, it just provides redundancy against drive failure. A dojy drive in a RAID can still cause data corruption etc.

Better plan is to have a sep OS drive and then a RAID 1 array to backup onto
 
That way would mean having scheduled backups of various folders etc daily/weekly/fortnightly etc. Surely that backup process is going to take up a lot of system resources and time, as we're talking about a lot of data...

Or am I missing something?
 
Well as I said, (and I say this from experience) RAID is not a form of backup. Its either increased speed or protection against single drive failure, or more if you have hot spares in the array.

If one drive in the array starts to mess about and the controller doesnt pick up on it, you can end up with bad/corrupted data accross multiple drives. This is why you use RAID + backups. I've only seen it once but it does happen.

I used to have 2 drives in RAID 1 in my desktop. Now using a single drive, and instead I have a NAS box which I backup onto weekly. It takes hardly any resources and little time as you can do incremental backups with software like Acronis
 
Thanks for your input, I understand that RAID isn't a backup method it was just my poor phrasing of the original question :)

I'm looking into several options at the moment, not sure which will work best for me. Although I've read a few favourable things about Windows home server and how it manages data.
 
Scottland said:
That way would mean having scheduled backups of various folders etc daily/weekly/fortnightly etc. Surely that backup process is going to take up a lot of system resources and time, as we're talking about a lot of data...

Or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Unless your data is changing a lot then schedule a weekly 2am (or similar) incremental backup. As soon as you have done your first backup then it isn't bad at all. This will not take long at all and you shouldn't even notice it happening. :)
 
Trifid said:
Unless your data is changing a lot then schedule a weekly 2am (or similar) incremental backup. As soon as you have done your first backup then it isn't bad at all. This will not take long at all and you shouldn't even notice it happening. :)
Click to expand...

Good point I suppose, would I be better off using an external drive or NAS for this purpose? How does the backup work, is it software driven or could a NAS (or similar) do it via it's own software?

It looks like WHS is out of the equation as I don't really want to run 2 pc's, and I don't think it would be suitable to use as a primary operating system.
 
AFTER my dice with death when the WD My Book (my backup) died weeks ago, I'm now only going to use RAID1 as a backup.

I did get my DATA back with help of a Freezer, so not going to push my luck again.
 
Scottland said:
Good point I suppose, would I be better off using an external drive or NAS for this purpose? How does the backup work, is it software driven or could a NAS (or similar) do it via it's own software?

It looks like WHS is out of the equation as I don't really want to run 2 pc's, and I don't think it would be suitable to use as a primary operating system.
Click to expand...

Either a NAS or external will be suitable. I suppose with the external you have to remember to plug it in but a NAS costs quite a bit more. You will need software on your PC such as Synctoy which you can specify when you want it to sync and if wanted schedule the PC to boot at night.
 
At the moment, the Icy Box 4220 is looking a decent contender. Although I didn't really want to end up with 2 drives and 2 mirrors, it's looking like it'll be the best solution for the sake of an extra £40 for the extra drive.

Plus, if I have 2 * 500gb drives in my PC with them fully backed up onto a NAS with 2 * 500gb drives - I also have the flexability of being able to access all the files etc when the PC is off.

I see the Icybox NAS required the drives in Fat32 or ext2/3, the former is better for me - but are there any limitations on Fat32 with large drives?
 
4GB File limit might be an issue, not sure how much of an issue having the EXT file system will be though.

Oh, they won't be 2 lots of RAID just 2 individual drives in the PC, backed upto to 2 drives in the NAS.
 
I definatley wouldnt reccomend FAT32 for large drives. As mentioned, there about a 4GB filesize limit. The box itself runs a cut down version of debian + shares via samba so ext2/3 is fine.
 
helmutcheese said:
AFTER my dice with death when the WD My Book (my backup) died weeks ago, I'm now only going to use RAID1 as a backup.

I did get my DATA back with help of a Freezer, so not going to push my luck again.
Click to expand...

If your WD mybook that died was your backup, why did you need to use the freezer method to get your data off it? Surely you mean it was just what you was using to store your data at the time, otherwise there would be no reason to use the freezer method on it?

I have been a RAID 1 fan for quite a long time, anything thats REALLY important to me gets copied on to other computers in my house, and in another family members house. Which probably only takes up about 15GB tops.
 
fobose said:
If your WD mybook that died was your backup, why did you need to use the freezer method to get your data off it? Surely you mean it was just what you was using to store your data at the time, otherwise there would be no reason to use the freezer method on it?

I have been a RAID 1 fan for quite a long time, anything thats REALLY important to me gets copied on to other computers in my house, and in another family members house. Which probably only takes up about 15GB tops.
Click to expand...

NO, because I was in between fitting 2 new VRaptors and preping my Raptor X's for sale so there was no other copy.

Either way I GOT my DATA back and it wont happen ever again.

I have 1 PC and I am the 1 and only user.
 
Are there any issues with Samsung drives and the Icybox NAS4220? I've come across a few forum posts saying there are issues, but nothing to confirm if these have been resolved in later revisions/firmware.
 
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