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General discussion

Which RAID for me?

by srosam Feb 13, 2006 6:24PM PST

hi,

im going be getting a new pc soon and i want to be able to have a solid and easy to use data backup solution.

so.. i was thinking of RAID 5.. i am currently under the impression that i will be able to remove a drive (1 of 3) and replace it with a blank drive and that way ill have a complete backup. then the blank deive will somehow be filled with the data that its missing.

any thoughts/suggestions on my assumptions would be appreciated.

Discussion is locked

9 Posts
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RAID isn't backup
by joe_smith Feb 13, 2006 8:03PM PST

RAID is for data redundancy, not backup. There's a somewhat subtle, but important distinction to be made there. RAID is a supplement to a good backup regiment, not a replacement. For the average home user, it's overkill, because it's not so vitally important that there be as little down time as possible. A simple backup system is quite adequate.

There's also a number of complications involved with installing Windows onto a RAID setup that bite a lot of people in the ****.

Personally, I'd make sure the new system has a DVD burner in it. Then I'd go out and get a pack of 25 or so DVD rewritable discs. At the end of every week or whatever time interval you choose, burn a copy of important data to one of these DVDs. The next time, burn a copy onto a fresh DVD. When you run out of fresh DVDs, erase the first one and burn the new backup onto it. Every 6 months or so, I'd replace the DVDs with a fresh set.

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(NT) (NT) Nicely put !
by VAPCMD Feb 13, 2006 10:33PM PST
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hmmm.
by srosam Feb 13, 2006 11:26PM PST

ok.. i see your point on the raid thing.. the data partition on my pc currently has about 15GB of data mostly docs and stuff (wife is a teacher). so i do currently backup to dvd and external hard disk.

i wanted something a little easier to maintain.

one thought was to use a pull out/hot swap drive to copy all the data to, then that can be put in a safe place untill needed for the next backup.

was i correct in my assumption that RAID 5 would fill up the new disk with everything that it is missing? or is there some kind of process you have to kick off?

thanks.

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Yes and no
by joe_smith Feb 14, 2006 4:34AM PST

RAID isn't a backup solution, and I really don't think you'd be happy with the results if you tried using it for that. For most people, knowing that you'd have to completely reinstall Windows to get it set up is enough to dissuade them from this idea.

The unfortunate reality about backups, is they're a pain to make and keep up. There is no easy way to do backups that's reliable and effective.

I don't know what your plans are for the current system once the new one arrives, but you might consider a file server. You can slap a copy of Linux or FreeBSD onto the box, and set up a cron job to yank down a copy of the documents every night. Which can be stored in a RAID 5 array, and then every so often, you also make backups onto DVD. Or even better, use a network filesystem so that all the documents are actually stored on the file server, and just sent back and forth transparently. I'm not sure if there's an NFS client for Windows, but there are plenty of others to choose from.

If your current system is going to be used for something else, consider checking eBay for an old full tower box. Processor speed doesn't really matter for light file server duty, so you can go cheap with an old Pentium 200 or something. Get a full tower case so you've got plenty of room for adding in new drives. You can always slap in PCI IDE cards if you need more capacity.

It'd be a lot of work to set up, but the great thing about Linux or FreeBSD, is they are very "set it and forget it" friendly. Once you get things set up and working, they should be able to run for years without any intervention on your part.

The important thing to keep in mind, is that RAID should not be considered a backup solution. It's more of a stopgap measure to try and prevent downtime in the event of a drive failure. I've given you a couple of alternative options which you might want to consider, and also possibly use as jumping off points for investigating other options.

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Maybe none...
by VAPCMD Feb 15, 2006 8:34AM PST

I install second hard disk drives as storage space for drive images/backup that enable me to restore a file, a partition or an entire drive if one should fail.
I partition disk 0 into two part...C: for OS and APPs and D: for all data. The second hard disk, disk 1, serves as a place to store image backups of C: and D:. If C: hiccups or becomes corrupt...I can format C: and restore the image of C: from disk 1. If disk 0 dies, I replace it and use the images from the second drive to put everything back on the new drive . . . partitions C: and D:.

I take tha one step further and also have copies of those images on an external USB drive. I use Norton Ghost 2003 with MS-DOS as the underlying OS on the Norton Ghost boot floppy. I do the images periodically based on the addition new software or addtional data created. I do whatever is necsssary to be prepared for disaster and to avoid reinstallng everything. It's a little work now and then, or a lot of work...when not if the system fails. I much prefer the former.

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ok..
by srosam Feb 15, 2006 8:32PM PST

i have gotten some good ideas from you guys.. thanks for the info..

i think ill end up going with a something like an external usb drive for data and a seperate internal disk for drive images.

thanks again.

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The best backup possible
by KaaCee1912 Feb 17, 2006 10:02PM PST

I recently purchased a 40gb Hardrive to replace the 15gb already in my laptop. I used Western Digital's Data Lifeguard that comes with new HD's, formatted the new HD as a new boot disk, without making any other changes, and a exact copy of my old HD(took a few hours), complete in all respects was made, then simply exchanged the HD's.
Therefore, anyone who is worried about a HD, that may for whatever reason, die or become corrupt, this is an alternative. Of course, this would require a separate HD of the same size or larger, to be dedicated to for this purpose only.

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And how do you update it ????
by VAPCMD Feb 18, 2006 12:54AM PST

And after a few months the OS, the APPs aren't current and neither's the data.

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The best backup.....
by KaaCee1912 Feb 22, 2006 1:03AM PST

Every week or whatever, you simply do another routine with the external drive,(of the same size or larger), consider it new, do a format and make it a new bootable HD. It is sort of like "restore", only if your present HD, ever dies, you have another HD ready to be switched, with a complete copy of your HD on the last date you did this process.

The reason for doing it this way is that it makes a copy of your present HD. You don't have to reinstall all the programs, such as "windows" etc. If your HD dies, you switch HD's.

Since, this takes a few hours, and because your using a USB port, it is only for those who have a real concern about losing data, and all the time it takes to reinstall................ltgn0019@sympatico.ca

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