RAID HDD Question

I think you would need a virtual raid controller...

I use Vice Versa Pro

http://www.tgrmn.com/

 

4RE has the basic idea down.

an external RAID array using 2 (or more) identical hardrives running in RAID 1 mode would do the trick.

There are many options out there these days that can do this. Just read reviews on www.newegg.com and www.amazon.com before you make your purchase.


If it must be external, I would get a NAS capable RAID array, using gigabit ethernet to connect to your router. This will give you significantly higher speed than using a basic USB connection and it would be accessible from anywhere if you are using a laptop.


For instance...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822107053

loaded up with any 2 hard drives of your choice would be my ideal solution if I was looking to do what you want to do.


So just to be clear... In a RAID 1 situation, all you are doing is protecting the data from hardware failure. Basically the way the RAID 1 array works is by sending every I/O to both hard-drives concurrently. Any problems resulting from software and/or user error will effect both drives.

 

Technically yes. Although the Fanless design would seriously worry me. Two hard drives running concurrently in I/O intensive uses like photo editing will create significant amounts of heat. This could shorten the life of the drives without adequate means of dealing with that heat.

Taken together with the very significant number of poor ratings, that may not be a particularly reliable piece of equipment.

There should be other options along those same lines from other manufacturers that you can look in to.

 

I have been a fan of Lacie products in the past, but haven't used one in years.

At first glance, that would certainly fit the bill. Unfortunately, atleast according to amazon reviews... this looks to be similar quality to the WD.

http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-Quadra-2-Disk-Drive-301352U/dp/B001KFH6HY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1322752257&sr=8-5

You are on the right track with the devices you want, so just keep looking at reviews until you find one you can feel comfortable buying.

 

Yeah I know what you mean. Generally, I try to read the reasons for the bad reviews rather and take the ratio of good/bad w/ a grain of salt because of the bias in reporting bad experiences.

I've been there wanting to buy something but ended up holding off for a long time because of a couple bad reviews... ultimately I just had to make a decision and bite the bullet.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, when it comes to electronic equipment, it seems companies just release underdeveloped devices knowing a particular percentage of their customers will get screwed. You just have to hope you aren't in that percentage.

 

You're not understanding this correctly... Certain RAID configurations simply provide fault tolerance in the event of a drive failure. RAID 1 provides a mirrored pair so if one drive fails your data is safe and sound on the other. You simply replace the failed drive and perform an operation to rebuild the array. The mirror happens without interaction from you, so you can't write to only one drive in this configuration. RAID 0 doesn't provide redundancy, so no fault tolerance and that's not what you're looking for.

The best (i.e. affordable with decent performance) RAID solution would be a RAID 5 array either directly attached to your computer or in the form of a NAS device - Network Attached Storage. I personally use an Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d NAS Server for all of my Data on my home network. RAID 5 provides the Data redundancy you're looking for and is fault tolerant in the event of a drive failure.

However, if you don't need the fault tolerance provided by a RAID array you might be better off simply backing up your main drive to another hard drive either attached to your computer or on your network. All you need to do is either be disciplined enough to copy your data to that drive every day, or buy some off the shelf software to do the backups for you. Symantec and Western Digital have some very good backup software available.

Make sense? Good luck! -Glen

 

Redundancy is basically multiple instances of the same data. So a data backup is redundant. Most RAID arrays are redundant because the same data is contained on multiple drives. Mirrors systems are redundant.

Fault Tolerant implies that measures are in place provide continuity in the event of a component failure. So a stand alone drive that is backed up is not fault tolerant. If it fails, it's gone and you have to recover from your redundant data source - ie your backup.

If one drive in a RAID array fails you will most likely not notice unless there is some warning provided by the controlling software, or the hardware, or something monitoring the drive. Additionally your data is safe because it is redundant on the other drives...

 

Okay, then that's correct... Note that there are higher risks with RAID 1 than on some of the other RAID types. Not to scare you out of this low cost solution, but I have seen corruption and data loss on a RAID 1 array when one drive failed during heavy usage. If you are looking for a higher degree of fault tolerance, then a RAID 5 array is the better choice. There are other options as well, but then you start getting into the multi-thousand dollar solutions.

To stay on the inexpensive side, you can still use an inexpensive stand alone drive to (less frequently) backup your RAID 1 array to. Your decisions should be based on how valuable that data is to you.

 

Yes, you've been extremely lucky.


As for RAID 5, IMO Glen is being a bit overkill with that.

To have a RAID 5 array, you need a minimum of 3 drives (but I would NOT RECOMMEND only 3... 5 is better), and you need to have a mechanism for delivering consistent power, as a power failure mid-write can cause catastrophic failure in the array. You also need a RAID controller that is a step up from most consumer grade products that I am aware of.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID if you really want to learn more about RAID arrays.

 

It's overkill for sure! I do like having a UPS protected NAS, but I'll admit it, I'm a geek... To clarify, I'm only thinking here of external storage solutions of which many are available to plug and play using USB, your local network router, firewire, etc...

And always plug your equipment into a UPS!

 

There is another term for that....


Bragging rights!

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It is my weakness, LOL...

 

I'd also vote on going with a NAS device. Get a bare metal one and add your own hard drives. Do drives from separate vendors so in case one goes down in a ball of flames its cousin two spots down on the assembly line doesn't follow suit. (perils of getting drives from the same vendors) Also do your self a huge favor and get enterprise rated drives that have 5 year warranty. Don't go for the el chepo 1 year only drives, unless you put stuff in the cloud.

Biggest favor you can do your self is getting drop box or mozy or any of the other major cloud data backup services. Long term you spend more but zero down time can be a huge asset. Also you switch to a new computer just login to your backup services and your data comes right back down like it never left. Very handy to say the least. Some of them also offer a rocket drive service, they send you a drive in a box you put all your data on there mail it back to them and they load it into your account. (if you have a terabyte or two this makes sense) Sub 300 gig can be done in a few days if you have a good pipe. I am lucky enough to have 35/35 service from FIOS.

Also if you switch between a laptop and desktop like I do it keeps your files sync'ed which is also a nice to have.

Just need a good internet connection with solid upload rates. (5 meg or more)

If you have photos you have completed work on a service like Fotki has unlimited photo storage and you can set security you can run all private IE no one has access unless give them access. Unlimited storage fixed cost. You can also sell photo on there for money set your own prices etc. Not sure what sort of photo work you do but it could be an avenue.

 

Were you able to find a product that looked good to you?

I just spent the last 3 days reorganizing and backing up my mom's data to a WD MyWorld Book NAS drive.

It has been a lot of work, but in the long term having her data constantly getting backed up over the network will be a huge safety net. Currently she has > 200gigs in photos and websites she has designed.

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