Backup Array; Need it NOW

[CTX-SLPR]

So when I rebuild my computer the 1Tb data drive never came back.  I finally got annoyed enough (it's more of an achieve than a true data drive) to look into why last night and I found the SATA power was disconnected but when I connected the power (with the computer and PSU off) I just got the click of death.  It spins but clicks and I've tried flipping it over and sideways.  Regardless of if I can bring it back to life I need a backup array.

 

Right now I really have two options

1. Three 500Gb's in RAID 5
2. Two 1Tb's in RAID 1

I'm leaning towards option 1 as I already have a pair of 500Gb driver from upgraded laptops so it's the cheapest option.  Right now I have managed to backup everything onto a 320Gb disc so I don't think I'm going to be hurt by the lack of space.

 

Any reasons to not go for the RAID 5 of mostly cast off discs?

[unkn0wn1]

2 1Tb disks in raid 1 would give faster write speeds.

[CTX-SLPR]

It's an achieve drive so how much does that come into play?

[nosirrahx]

RAID 5 is pretty obsolete, been using RAID 1 in multiple systems for years, no issues.

[kirashi]

1 hour ago, CTX-SLPR said:

Any reasons to not go for the RAID 5 of mostly cast off discs?

Yes, RAID is not a backup. RAID only safeguards against hard drive failure. If you get infected by Ransomware, accidentally delete a file, have some kind of general corruption, or your RAID motherboard or card fails, you will still lose your data. RAID is fine for performance and hot fail protection, but it is NOT a backup solution.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=raid+is+not+a+backup

 

https://serverfault.com/questions/2888/why-is-raid-not-a-backup

http://blog.open-e.com/why-raid-is-not-a-backup/

 

What you really want for a backup is the 3-2-1 Backup system.

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-3-2-1-backup-strategy/

[seagate_surfer]

You might be better off looking into an external USB drive for backups, for the reasons well covered by kirashi above, particularly the 3-2-1 backup strategy. Basically, the ideal use-case for RAID would look something like this: You are running a hypothetical website, and on this website there are credit card transactions for the online store. If the server that runs these online transactions were to have a hard drive issue which caused the system to have to go offline while you order/find a new drive to replace it, then get everything restored and back online again, that time that it is down is money that has been burned away. RAID prevents that by keeping the system up so that you can hot swap the drives without taking the system online. 

A big part of the issue is that when you rebuild a RAID array, any errors or logical conflicts could cause more issues with that copy of your data/more drives to potentially fall out of the array, so it's not the most viable solution for keeping your data safe. That's where 3-2-1 comes into play. 

From our options, the Expansion and Backup Plus both have USB-powered "portable" versions and wall-powered "desktop/hub" versions that may be a fit here:

Expansion Portable
Expansion Desktop
Backup Plus Portable
Backup Plus Desktop

Good luck, regardless of which route you decide to go in the end!

[CTX-SLPR]

So I'm going down the path of a 3-2-1 storage plan.  Still haven't picked out the offsite setup but I'm working on setting up the RAID backup using a pair of the 500Gb drives.  Once I get that working I'll buy another storage drive for the primary place to put the house's backups on then back that up onto the RAID array with a lower storage dwell time since it's not as big.

 

Thanks for the heads up I was doing it wrong.