RAID1 = Step 1 of a good backup/redundancy plan, but RAID0 = need for much more backup space.
I would actually consider something like:
- SSD BOOT/OS Drive
- 2x Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1TB Single-Platter HDDs in RAID0 for Games and other Programs
- WD Black 2TB for Media (Video/Music) and have a partition for daily or weekly backups
- External 2-3TB HDD (USB3.0/eSATA) for backups you can keep elsewhere (don't leave it plugged in, and keep in a different area of the home)
- 1-4x 16-128GB USB2.0/USB3.0 Flash Drives for rotating backups, keeping one at work and one in the car for your most critical data
The above is the best mix of performance, redundancy, and cost that I can think of. The RAID0 setup is just games and other programs that can simply be reinstalled, and the saves and what not are backed up to the 2TB Black. The external drive can either image your SSD+Black, or selectively backup. And the flash drives keep the truly critical stuff off-site in case of fire/flood/lightning/angry moose attacks.
Depending on your space needs, you can short-stroke the WD10EZEX drives to 300-500GB each (600GB-1TB total space), and you will get 325-375MB/Sec across the array, with access times/latency of 10-12ms. That's serious speed, and for Games and programs like Photoshop, the decrease in load times are significant. Also, being able to transfer your most-played games back and forth between the SSD and RAID0 array at over 300MBsec will actually allow you to use your SSD speeds for something that you will notice other than quick boots and load times.
Depending on the external hard drive, it's possible to get very good transfer rates there as well, especially if you were to put a Seagate 3TB Barracuda in an external enclosure rather than buying one pre-assembled. I wouldn't be surprised to see peak transfers around 200MBsec with average around 175MBsec. Spend an hour (or less) once a week backing up, while you are home and awake (no point in having it if you leave it plugged in when not in us ), and you will have a pportable and fast backup solution.
Same thing with the flash drives. I personally rotate having one at my girlfriend's house, one in car, one on my person (university means backpack, otherwise in coat pocket), one in one of my fireproof gun safes, and one in the computer. I personally think that 32GB is the sweet spot for capacity vs cost, but 64GB gives you room for an OS image + 30GB or more of other data. Some USB3.0 drives will do as much as 130MBsec Read and 95MBsec Write, but even 75/50 is plenty fast.
Anyway, sorry for the small novel, just thought I'd share this with you. Good luck with the RMA!
