Home server NAS HDD setup.

[Gerr]

I am upgrading my NAS storage on my Windows Home Server.  I have two 3TB WD Red drives(5400RPM) and one 4TB HGST NAS drive (7200rpm) to use.  I have two options on how to set these HDD's up..

 

Option #1:

Setup the NAS with the two 3TB HDD in a mirror(Raid1) and use the 4TB as an external backup.

 

Option #2:

Setup the 4TB as the single NAS HDD and use the two 3TB as a 6TB(Raid0) external backup.

 

The first option gives me redundancy as well as a backup, but at a cost to total NAS size, slower NAS drives, and a smaller backup ratio(backup is 33% larger than NAS).

The second option gives me a larger NAS size, faster NAS drive, and a higher backup ratio(backup is 50% larger than NAS), but no NAS redundancy and a higher risk failure on the backups(Raid0).

 

Thoughts?

[79wjd]

7 minutes ago, Gerr said:

I am upgrading my NAS storage on my Windows Home Server.  I have two 3TB WD Red drives(5400RPM) and one 4TB HGST NAS drive (7200rpm) to use.  I have two options on how to set these HDD's up..

 

Option #1:

Setup the NAS with the two 3TB HDD in a mirror(Raid1) and use the 4TB as an external backup.

 

Option #2:

Setup the 4TB as the single NAS HDD and use the two 3TB as a 6TB(Raid0) external backup.

 

The first option gives me redundancy as well as a backup, but at a cost to total NAS size, slower NAS drives, and a smaller backup ratio(backup is 33% larger than NAS).

The second option gives me a larger NAS size, faster NAS drive, and a higher backup ratio(backup is 50% larger than NAS), but no NAS redundancy and a higher risk failure on the backups(Raid0).

 

Thoughts?

Raid0 backup sounds like a truly horrible idea....so option #1. 

 

The only real downside is the loss of 1TB of space -- the speed difference is likely to be irrelevant.

 

As a third alternative, you could put the two 3tb drives in RAID 0 (or JBOD), and only backup the important 4TB and use the remaining 2TB for less critical content.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Definitely not Option 2. RAID 0 on a backup is a terrible idea. 

 

Out of the two, I'd go for option 1, but it's still not what I'd suggest. 

 

I'd probably use both of the 3TB drives, either as independent disks on in extended/JBOD and then backup 4TB of data from those drives. Seeing as one of your options only gives you 3TB of data storage, I'd assume you don't actually need all 6TB yet, so you may as well have 6TB available and upgrade the backup drive when you need to.

 

EDIT: You could use RAID 0 on the drives, but really I'd avoid it. Unless you're using above 1Gbps networking, you're not going to get the benefits with a NAS anyway.

[Gerr]

I want a revision history on the backups, so if I make changes to a file, then need the original file a week later, I don't just have a single backup copy.  This is why my backup size is larger than the NAS itself.

 

Raid0 as the NAS isn't going to happen, but in the backup, not nearly as worried.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Just now, Gerr said:

I want a revision history on the backups, so if I make changes to a file, then need the original file a week later, I don't just have a single backup copy.  This is why my backup size is larger than the NAS itself.

 

Raid0 as the NAS isn't going to happen, but in the backup, not nearly as worried.

In that case, Option 1. 

 

I'd avoid RAID 0 completely for a backup and most NAS applications. Only thing I'd suggest RAID 0 for is caching or scratch drives. 

[Gerr]

My external backup enclosuer also does JBOD, so that might be better.  Does that change any opinions?

[79wjd]

4 minutes ago, Gerr said:

My external backup enclosuer also does JBOD, so that might be better.  Does that change any opinions?

My preference is still option 3:

21 minutes ago, 79wjd said:

As a third alternative, you could put the two 3tb drives in JBOD, and only backup the important 4TB and use the remaining 2TB for less critical content.

Otherwise, still not option 2 if you need the backup to always be larger and/or have nothing unimportant.

[Firewrath9]

Raid 0 on the 2 WD reds, put important stuff on the 4TB as backup.

[Gerr]

The only way there is an option 3 is if I add another 4TB HDD at a later date.  I could RAID0 or JBOD the two 3TB drives into 6TB of storage and then do my back ups as normal to the 4TB drive.  As the 6TB NAS starts to fill and I start to run out of backup room, I can just add another 4TB to my backup for an 8TB JBOD.

 

However, with that said, I still like option #1 for the extra protection it provides and doesn't rely on any RAID0 or JBOD.  I could always upgrade it at a later time as 3TB will likely be enough storage for a while.  I could add a pair of  3TB drives and turn the RAID1 into RAID10 with 6TB of storage, then add another 4TB drive to my back up to make an 8TB JBOD.  But that's later down the road.