4 x 8TB drives - 4-Bay NAS - 2 Drives in Raid 1 + 1 Backup Drive + 1 drive for other application?

[corinthos]

So I got myself a 4-bay QNAP NAS for about $225 and 4 x 8TB 256MB drives (HP EasyStore, shucked).

Main purpose is to preserve and archive photos, 4K videos, BD/DVD rips, audio files, and documents.

Since RAID is not a substitute for backups, I am trying to decide the optimal configuration given my 4-bay NAS and 4 drives available for use.

I could go with Raid 5 to maximize the amount of usable storage I'd have (24 TB out of 32 TB), but I'd have no drives to perform backups and no bays for it. The backup system would have to be on a separate machine.
But I guess there's supposed to be more risk of a 2nd drive failing during rebuild; the longer it takes to rebuild, the greater the risk.

I could also go with Raid 10 and have 16 TB of usable storage, and again, no drives to perform backups and no bays for it. So again the backup system would have to be on a separate machine. Raid10 seems like it'd give me better performance than Raid5 and be less complex. If not Raid 10, I could go with Raid 6, but it'd give me the same usable storage and no room for backups.

Another option is to go with Raid 1 and have 8 TB of usable storage, have a 3rd drive be the backup drive on the same NAS, and the 4th drive could be used for other applications, like surveillance?

What would you guys think is the best option for me? One day, I may need/want to expand the storage and move to an 8-bay NAS.... either that or migrate my data to higher capacity drives and continue with the 4-bay.

Is it generally a bad idea to put the Raid, backup and other application drives all in the same NAS?

 

[Elixer]

Is it generally a bad idea to put the Raid, backup and other application drives all in the same NAS?

You want to minimized data loss is the main goal in the event of failure.
I suppose you could use 3 drives for the RAID array with one of those being the parity drive (and yes, as you pointed out, if another drive fails on rebuild, you would lose the whole array), and have 1 as dedicated backup, however, if you go that route, I would setup a cloud on that drive so you can have a better backup plan.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So I got myself a 4-bay QNAP NAS for about $225 and 4 x 8TB 256MB drives (HP EasyStore, shucked).

That's a nice setup; I did that myself recently too.

For the NAS? I'd just run RAID-5, and maximize the space your NAS can hold.

For backup? Yes, certainly, RAID is not backup.

Some of us, that have been doing this for a while, have multiple NAS units, all backing up each other.

So start saving for making a clone of your current NAS.

 

[corinthos]

Thanks guys. So, let's say I use the 4-bay NAS exclusively for mass storage w/ RAID. Since I ought to have a backup system in place as well, what are good hardware options for a dedicated backup machine? Would it be better (more energy efficient, compact, etc) to use another NAS for that purpose, use a NUC, use old PC parts slapped together with whatever power supply I may have in the garage?

Ideally, it'd be nice if the unit were as small as my 4-bay NAS, since I have that in a cabinet along with my PC's, so it'd be nice to be able to also keep the backup box in the same cabinet.

Also, what is the recommended backup software solution these days? Would it be Acronis True Image or something like that?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I believe that QNAP and Synology both have a type of replication-based backup feature if you have two of their NAS units. (I need to investigate this feature myself, as I have several QNAP units.)

Seems like prices aren't super-cheap for a 4-bay QNAP NAS unit these days anymore. Although, I suppose $225-250 is a decent price. I would like to see something like a TS-431 unit for $200, but I can understand that they have an R&D pipeline to feed, to develop their OS (which gets constant updates).