Raid?

Craftsman_2222 · February 5, 2016

I have a new rig that has a 2TB HDD and 400GB PCIe ssd. I want to backup the 2TB drive but can i still do that if there is data already on the drive? Also what type of raid would I want If I wanted the safest and reliable solution?

EDIT:I want to back it up with another 2TB HDD

alpenwasser · February 5, 2016

If you actually want to back up your 2 TB drive, you won't use RAID at all. RAID isn't for backing up, it's for increasing uptime (a drive fails, you can keep using your machine as if nothing had happened and replace the drive). If that is what you want, RAID1 (mirroring) is what you'll need to look at.

If you want an actual backup however, get an external enclosure or a hotswap bay (or, if you haven't bought the second HDD yet, just get an external 2 TB drive), put the second 2 TB drive into that, and back up at reasonable intervals. Then disconnect the backup drive and keep it safe.

EmeraldFlame · February 5, 2016

To expand on what @alpenwasser said, RAID is considered redundancy not backup. It will protect you in the case of a hard drive failure. It will not protect you from accidental deletion, file corruption, power surges, or other software/user errors.

If RAID still seems like that is all you are worried about RAID 1 would likely be what you would want to use. Typically, this does require both drives start completely freshly formatted, with 1 notable exception. A software RAID 1 using Intel's Rapid Storage Technology driver will allow you to create a RAID 1 without wiping your source disk, although that software is highly dependent on whether your MoBo/Chipset supports it or not.

If you are looking for an actual backup, I would suggest getting an external drive, backing up to it in frequent intervals and storing it outside of your own home (in case of a fire, flood, other natural disaster). For example I have one friend who rents a deposit box at a bank and once a month he will grab the drive, back up to it, then put it back into the deposit box. If your internet is fast enough there are also options like CrashPlan or BackBlaze that give you cloud based backup solutions that cost around $5 USD a month for unlimited storage.