Two unraid servers or try something else?

[GOW2]

I've been using unraid for about 2 years now for a NAS, Plex media server. I have a extra PC that i wanted to use to backup my unraid server so i am wondering if i should use unraid again or try something else.

 

This second PC would only be used once a month or less to backup my current unraid server. It would only be a backup not used for plex etc.

 

I'm happy with unraid and i don't mind buying another license my only complaint about unraid is it's a bit slow. I have around 40TB of data and use a 10GIG network not that it matters since it's only as fast as your HDD.

[ToboRobot]

One unraid server, plus one TrueNAS server for backup seems like a good solution.

 

[GOW2]

22 minutes ago, ToboRobot said:

One unraid server, plus one TrueNAS server for backup seems like a good solution.

 

I was thinking about TrueNAS, only downside i think is all HDDs have to be the same size.

[GOW2]

Is ECC a must for using TrueNAS?

[LIGISTX]

3 hours ago, GOW2 said:

I was thinking about TrueNAS, only downside i think is all HDDs have to be the same size.

A ZFS array will only be as large as the smallest drive. So if you have mismatched drives, you will only get the storage capacity of the smallest drive multiplied by how many discs you have in the array. 
 

2 hours ago, GOW2 said:

Is ECC a must for using TrueNAS?

No, it isn’t required. It’s just as important as it would be for any other file system, which would be a “nice to have” but not strictly needed. 
 

Honestly… just backup important things to the cloud. Plex “data” can likely be easily re-downloaded and not worth backing up. Backup your important personal info (docs, pictures, etc) to the cloud, and that will be the best option. 

[voyager_]

I'm doing something similar, I have my main server that syncs weekly to a second unraid server. I stuck with unraid for the second machine because I can add drives when needed and I have been happy with the OS.

[GOW2]

On 9/26/2022 at 11:29 AM, voyager_ said:

I'm doing something similar, I have my main server that syncs weekly to a second unraid server. I stuck with unraid for the second machine because I can add drives when needed and I have been happy with the OS.

Yes it's very good.

[GOW2]

On 9/25/2022 at 12:05 PM, LIGISTX said:

Honestly… just backup important things to the cloud. Plex “data” can likely be easily re-downloaded and not worth backing up. Backup your important personal info (docs, pictures, etc) to the cloud, and that will be the best option. 

 

I thought this was linus tech forums?

[LIGISTX]

19 minutes ago, GOW2 said:

 

I thought this was linus tech forums?

I don’t understand? Everyone including linus and team advise you use cloud backups. A second machine, especially at the same house, is not a great backup methodology. 

[derr12]

for archiving, you cant get much simpler or easy than unraid,  if you have mismatched drives, that's probably what i would use.  Since its just a backup, a parity drive may not be a requirement, so mix/matching of drives gets a lot simpler.  if a disk fails, you can just run a backup again once its replaced/removed.