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So unraid is not meant to be a backup?

Why do they say that? I have dual parity drives. I came from a synology nas that i filled up.

 

unRaid is so much nicer!! 

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Well maybe, because every type of NAS is not a backup. The real function of RAID isn't to provide a backup, it's to ensure data is always available from an always-on server. It's about availability, not security. If you buy a NAS, you should still back it up to an EHD or cloud service.

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I use mine as a backup i have so much data nothing else can hold it all or it would be to costly to cloud host it.

 

I do keep other backups of small files but all my 4K movies is another story. I guess i need two unraid servers at two different locations to be safe lol

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I'm guessing they're not talking about the OS but RAID in itself.

 

RAID or Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks traditionally stripes (RAID0), stripes with parity bits (RAID5/6), mirrors (RAID1), or some combination (RAID10/50/60/51/61) data across multiple disks to increase performance, redundancy, or both.

 

UnRAID took this one step further by designing it so whole files are stored on individual disks so losing drives beyond the parity or mirror resiliency doesn't cause complete and total loss of data. Only partial loss.

 

The reason Unraid or RAID in general isn't a backup is because ultimately they're about maintaining up-time. In a business or other work environment the server going down can be catastrophic to profitability or productivity. By introducing resiliency to a storage solution a drive failure doesn't cost downtime. However a drive failure isn't the only thing a server can experience.

  1. Memory errors
  2. Corrupt data
  3. Bit rot
  4. Lightning strikes
  5. Human error
  6. Natural disasters
  7. Hackers
  8. Catastrophic PSU failure
  9. Fire

The list goes on. So many things can happen to the server that RAID will do nothing to protect the data. Some of these issues do have systems in place to mitigate like ECC memory, CRC's, & check sums, but these aren't full proof.

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10 hours ago, Tazz 316 said:

Why do they say that? I have dual parity drives. I came from a synology nas that i filled up.

 

unRaid is so much nicer!! 

If you have only one copy of the data, by nature it can't be a backup. If a second copy is in the same machine, it's not a backup, if you have two copies but one is out of date/sync, it's a useless backup. 

 

An ideal backup is the 3,2,1 method. For movies, that may be overkill, but a second simple nas build may be nice to have for a backup. 

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4 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

if you have two copies but one is out of date/sync, it's a useless backup. 


Not necessarily. If you're working on a document, for example, and need to retrieve it from a backup, an out-of-date version is far preferable to it not being there at all.

 

To answer OP's question, the reason RAID isn't a backup is because the drives are physically in the same place and are storing as good as only one copy of the data. Yes, it may be a lot better at coping with drive failure, but it can't protect against physical damage (such as water leak or an explosion) or against accidental deletion of data (which is why I believe one should always have at least one form of backup which is regularly kept up to date but does not sync automatically)

 

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Gives me a reason to build a second unriad box at a different location.

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as other have mentioned a NAS itself is not a backup it merely provides one layer of security against a failing HDD:

 

If you however use your NAS to store a copy of your data it becomes a backup for you and you can also sync this data to other services.

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On 3/7/2021 at 1:07 PM, Tazz 316 said:

Why do they say that? I have dual parity drives. I came from a synology nas that i filled up.

 

unRaid is so much nicer!! 

Its a backup if its part of a 3 2 1 backup strategy but is not as a standalone device parity is to protect the array in event of a disk failure if the server was your only source location for archived files and your array bit the dust for any one of various reasons you would lose the only data source you have so hence no backup

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Honestly,

 

Most of us with FreeNAS servers don't have a backup solution.  My "Backup" solution is that I have all of the DVD/BR discs in a storage bin.  If something were to happen that destroys the array, I would rebuild and re-rip all the discs.  Its simply not cost effective to buy into a LTO backup setup, or purchase enough cloud storage.

 

For my financial data that gets encrypted into a PGP file nightly and uploaded to the cloud.

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Backup is good if you've accidentally deleted or overwritten a file.

RAID is good at insuring data is available, you can still get to it in case of a drive failure.

 

Snapshots on RAID is a good backup. I think it is as long as you've got another offline or offsite copy. Particularly if you've got the copy including snapshots.

 

Pretty simple, eh?

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On 3/8/2021 at 9:25 AM, pythonmegapixel said:


Not necessarily. If you're working on a document, for example, and need to retrieve it from a backup, an out-of-date version is far preferable to it not being there at all.

 

To answer OP's question, the reason RAID isn't a backup is because the drives are physically in the same place and are storing as good as only one copy of the data. Yes, it may be a lot better at coping with drive failure, but it can't protect against physical damage (such as water leak or an explosion) or against accidental deletion of data (which is why I believe one should always have at least one form of backup which is regularly kept up to date but does not sync automatically)

 

Yep, this is how I roll... I usually leapfrog my media backups, so backup #1 for example is 2 days old, and backup #2 is 2 weeks. So hopefully if there is corruption of data, the older backup might have survived in tact. I'd much rather only have to try and replace 2 weeks worth of data, than losing everything. It's not perfect of course, it could still be foobar by user error, but both my servers also have snapshots, and my other backups are External, so hopefully something should survive. All of my really important data is also backed up elsewhere and cold stored. It's the best I could do with my budget anyway. I try and improve upon it from time to time and with server upgrades and storage upgrades I think it gets better each time... either that or I'm fooling myself 🤣

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