Storage Dilema

Robert · 30 Dec 2009 at 15:55

Currently have:

1*80GB SSD
2*320GB
1*250GB
1*1TB
2*1TB RAID 0

For different reasons I've virtually lost most data on the drives (keep important stuff backed up!).

However now I have a clean slate I'm not sure how best to use it.

Originally my setup was:

250GB - Boot drive
2*1TB - Storage
1TB - Storage
320 - Storage
320 - Games

Now I'm not sure what to do. I'm thinking about moving my games drive to my RAID partition and just using the other drives for storage (as well as any excess space on the RAID partition).

Any suggestions on how best to use this space?

Simon42 · 31 Dec 2009 at 09:20

Well there's quite a few options with that many drives! Do you need all of the space for data or can some be additional backups?

I often use an internal drive to store images of critical partitions and general backups and then copy those backups to external drives. This gives really fast backup and at least two copies which I prefer to using just a removable internal drive caddy or single external e-SATA drive. I plan my drives around my backup strategy which is a mix of partition imaging and standard file backups, so I need to plan which partitions contain what.

My suggestions would be to use a smallish partition at the beginning of a mechanical drive (or SSD) for the boot then RAID for the 2 x 1TB (probably split into two or three partitions) and then use the remaining space for backups. If you need more space then use one of the 320GB specifically for games. You could consider creating a JBOD over some of the smaller drives as well.

ali825 · 31 Dec 2009 at 16:13

i would not raid the 1tb drives due to if one goes they both go, then bam, 2tb all gone

Simon42 · 31 Dec 2009 at 18:36

ali825 said:
i would not raid the 1tb drives due to if one goes they both go, then bam, 2tb all gone

True, but as I posted in another thread I personally don't see RAID 0 as worse than any single drive. Yes there's double the risk, but the point is there's always a risk with storage devices and either you have backup or you don't. I have multiple copies of partition image backups so am happy with the risk for the extra performance.

This is why I suggested leaving so much space for backups to internal drives (which should then be copied to an external disk).