[RoddimusPrime]

I have current plans to build a server that is RAID 1 + SSD for the OS/Apps/any temp. server/webpage.

On the RAID 1 portion it will be two 2 TB Samsung F4 drives. I plan on backing up the data on my 2-3 computers on it. In all reality the data currently between all three is probably 500GB? But, I need room to grow.

However, I do have a small 500GB portable HD for transporting data or using with my WD HDTV, etc. I actually want to get a second one that is USB 3.0. However, those are not intended to be backup drives.

In addition to the server that will serve as an automatic backup point I am planning on using two 1TB F3 HD's in RAID 1 + SSD (for OS + critical apps) on my main rig and my wife's future rig. So my OS and main apps (Adobe, etc.) will be fast and my F3 drives will be storage/media such as music, pictures, documents, and STEAM games. Thus I will have an automatic backup of all those things plus STEAM and other programs.

I already have the drives to do this, but do you think this excessive by any means? I think it is nice to have a backup of all your items on your PC and then all your necessary data (I think the only thing I may not have backed up onto the server are STEAM games, but it will depend on the space) onto your network drive is a good idea in case one or the other goes completely or an electrical issue with one or the other. But, again, maybe it is excessive. Granted if an SSD goes then I will need to install my OS and main apps again on a new drive, but it is hard to afford two SSD's and probably not worth it.

Thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

 

[rdrdrdrd]

id go for a RAID 5 with 3 1tb drives for the main PCs, it will double the space of a 2 1tb raid 1, and still allow redundancy. For the server I would do the same with 3 2tb drives for more backup space, redundancy is good

 

[RoddimusPrime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdrdrdrd;13048736
id go for a RAID 5 with 3 1tb drives for the main PCs, it will double the space of a 2 1tb raid 1, and still allow redundancy. For the server I would do the same with 3 2tb drives for more backup space, redundancy is good

RAID 5 seems odd to me. And I cannot quite tell how well the redundancy works and how to calculate usable space. Plus I read that it has a higher chance of failure than RAID 1. In addition with RAID 1 I can yank a drive out and put it in another machine. After all what happens if the MoBo fails? And how is performance compared to RAID 1 which essentially no performance gain, but then again on a storage drive I am not looking for extra performance boosts.

I read about the RAID options on Wikipedia, but I am still confused by some things, but in particular RAID 5. It would seem they store different rows of information on each drive so if a drive goes it will pull from the other drives to rebuild the information on the third drive and you will still be fine. Does RAID 5 have any other positives over RAID 1 other than 50% more space or so? Any negatives? Will the information be lost if you have to put them into another MoBo (if the original dies)?

 

[rdrdrdrd]

Raid 1 makes two identical drives, raid 5 has the data split between all the drives, yet also has a copy of every drive distibuted over every other drive, to calculate the size, take the (number of drives -1) * (the storage of the smallest drive), it has moderate gains over a single drive, and cannot be tranfered between rigs if it is based off motherboards and not RAID cards, but thats what the server is for right lol?

 

[RoddimusPrime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdrdrdrd Raid 1 makes two identical drives, raid 5 has the data split between all the drives, yet also has a copy of every drive distibuted over every other drive, to calculate the size, take the (number of drives -1) * (the storage of the smallest drive), it has moderate gains over a single drive, and cannot be tranfered between rigs if it is based off motherboards and not RAID cards, but thats what the server is for right lol?

So would you say a RAID card and RAID 5 is worth it in my case? What would you do?

 

[rdrdrdrd]

i would get one for the server, and for each pc if they do not support RAID 5 of these
to raid 5 with your other 1TB drives, and for the server, with 4 2TB WD Green
for RAID 5

then get the ssds of your choosing, ive heard good things about the c300
and your all set

PS: a second opinion is always good