storage raid 1

[clshades]

I haven't bought spin point drive in ages and frankly I think they are all pretty shitty heh. I do however require a couple 1tb-2tb drives in a raid 1 capacity for the important stuff (family photos/videos etc)

What are the best options these days... reliability / life is the key here price isn't as much within reason. Speed isn't a huge issue for me it's just storage.

I've heard Hitachi drives are very solid but they are also very pricey but maybe that's the best option?

Input required! :thumb:

 

[enaberif]

Seagate 2TB or 3TB drives.

 

[Shadowarez]

I love WD reds for storage needs I currently have 10 reds deployed throughout my network haven't had single issue yet and they have great features for price.

 

[Dzzope]

I would go with something with a longer warranty that 3 years for a start.. Maybe either look into the wd black(5yrs) or the enterprise stuff(about the same price as the black) like the re, se or seagate constellation / es drives

Other option is just go cloudy.
Block storage with few IOP's is pretty cheap and your letting someone else worry about the replication etc. Also handy as you have them available anywhere any time.


Personally, I keep my pics and vids on 3 -4 computers (my brothers, my 2 and a friends) and my main pc get's the important stuff backed up regularly on an external HDD thats only plugged in to back up pics etc or update the other copies on the 3 other boxes.

Raid 1 would only really be better if you have critical data that you cannot lose when a hdd dies.
If your whole machine goes up in smoke you could be screwed.
If your file system becomes corrupt, your screwed.
If changes are made that cannot be reversed (or easily reversed) to anything on there... guess what, your screwed.

For important (really really important data) always have multiple copies, external to the box that cannot be accessed and if warranted off site too in case of disaster (it happens and if data is the only thing to go then not so bad..) such as house-fire or the like.

 

[3.0charlie]

Raid 1 on its own is not a back-up solution. Your data is not duplicated, and is still saved at a single location. PSU failure, motherboard craps out, or if using an enclosure - same thing. You want data duplication. Ask me how I learn that... now my customer go-to data setup is this: use dual twin-HDD NASs in Raid 1 (Qnap and cie). 2-3Tb HDDs, not same batches (bought at different stores). WD Reds, Constellations are very good. Setup a weekly routine to copy over from 1 NAS to the other using the installed apps.

Yeah, pricey. Twin Qnap 220s + 4x Reds 2Tb is 1k$. But compared to the cost of loosing your data (500-1000$ if salvageable, priceless if impossible to retrieve), a twin set-up is the simplest, least costly approach that will not cause headaches in the future...

My 0.02$.

 

[clshades]

typically I have multiple copies but this stuff needs to be on the network for the missus and it needs to be monkey proof and one click away. This isn't my 1st time running a file server but I haven't had to buy a spin drive for a couple years now. I'll look into user reviews on the drives suggested though thanks!

 

[clshades]

Raid 1 on its own is not a back-up solution. Your data is not duplicated, and is still saved at a single location. PSU failure, motherboard craps out, or if using an enclosure - same thing. You want data duplication. Ask me how I learn that... now my customer go-to data setup is this: use dual twin-HDD NASs in Raid 1 (Qnap and cie). 2-3Tb HDDs, not same batches (bought at different stores). WD Reds, Constellations are very good. Setup a weekly routine to copy over from 1 NAS to the other using the installed apps.

Yeah, pricey. Twin Qnap 220s + 4x Reds 2Tb is 1k$. But compared to the cost of loosing your data (500-1000$ if salvageable, priceless if impossible to retrieve), a twin set-up is the simplest, least costly approach that will not cause headaches in the future...

My 0.02$.

Ok so I've never setup a raid 1 before because I've never had to. If I setup a file server w/ adaptec raid card running a couple raid 1's and either the mobo or raid card craps out all the data is lost? I couldn't plug in any of the drives into another computer and access any of that data?

I mean I've formatted partitions on single drives and still had the data on the other side of the drive (I know completely different) but surely the data is still there?

 

[3.0charlie]

It all depends if the raid array got corrupted when either board or card died.



Technically you can remove the drives from one board, and connect them to a second board if the controller is the same (Intel, LSI as examples).

 

[clshades]

Well I could understand having to rebuild a raid 1 if something failed but more importantly I'd just be concerned that the data was still in tact. I suppose there's always a risk of losing data... back in the old days we used to have picture albums we simply need to keep away from infants and water.

 

[3.0charlie]

I'd never trust a single copy of my data on a Raid 1 array. I did. I lost it.

Indeed, much simpler in the good 'ole days.