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Just got a 4 bay NAS.

I want to set it up as optimal as possible.

I was thinking of getting 3 x 1TB hard drives and setting up as RAID 5.

The disk usage will probably be around 1TB max but there is scope for a bit more.

I was then going to get 1 x 2TB hard drive.

Then RSYNC a daily copy of the raid set to the 2TB.

I may also have the ability to RSYNC the data to a remote server. I know this is ideal - but may not be possible - so I don't want to fixate on that issue.

Is my setup worth doing? Or just going with 4 x 1TB raid 5?

user9517
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user915831
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  • if at all possible, get the ability to pop the 2tb drive out. Personally i do this with a hard drive caddy on the machine and leave the backup drive totally unconnected 99% of the time. Tape would be better if you can afford it though. – Sirex Nov 25 '11 at 15:43

2 Answers2

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Raid 5 is a good compromise between protecting you from data loss and capacity efficiency. However, Raid 1 read performance is better if that matters you.

Even when using Raid, you should consider using a good backup solution. Using any Raid level as opposed to backup does not protect you from accidentally/intentionally removed files.

I think it is recommended to do the backup on another machine/device. You may face a hardware/power failure in the NAS which prevents you from getting access to your data and your backup altogether.

Khaled
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If you are using a Synology device their Hybrid Raid feature works well if you are unsure of what traditional RAID configuration to go for.

It would allow you for example to start with 2x 1TB disks providing 1TB of disk space and be fully protected if you lost one disk. You could then upgrade to 2TB or 3TB disks later as your space requirements grew simply by replacing the smaller disks and letting the device spread the data to the larger disks. More info here

As has been said though running any RAID system or sudo RAID system like the Synology Hybrid Raid does not remove the need for a good backup soloution.

In the end the level of protection from RAID and backups depends on the data availability needed and its importance to you and your clients.

best
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