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Advice needed on HD upgrade

Proprioceptive

Proprioceptive

Golden Member
Alright, so I built this beast (ahem...) back in 2011 with the help of this forum.

CPU i3-2100
Mobo Biostar H61MGC
RAM 2x4GB G.Skill Value
GPU XFX HD-677X-ZNLC Radeon HD 6770 1GB
HDD Hitachi 7K1000.D 750GB
PSU Corsair CX430 V2
Case Antec 300

It handles the gaming we need, so this isn't an issue. What I want to do is expand on the HD space. We have a LOT of family videos and pictures along with other video and music stuff that we want to make sure we don't lose. Right now I just have a 2TB external drive holding half of our stuff and the internal HD listed above holding the rest. We stream a lot of the video over our network using Plex.

What I want to do is buy two 4TB drives and RAID them so that I have a copy at all times in case one goes down. I believe this means I need to install them in RAID 1. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm also thinking about replacing the Hitachi with an SSD for the OS and programs and using the HDs for all our storage.

I now submit to the forum's expertise. What HDs and SSD should I buy? Is my plan a good one? Is there a better option? Is online backup a better option?
 
Yes, your plan is a solid one. As long as we're clear that RAID is for redundancy purposes and not backup purposes (if you delete your photos they will be gone), then you should be set.

For an SSD it's hard to beat a Samsung 840 EVO right now. I don't know if a 120GB model will be enough, but I bet a 250GB will do. As for HDDs, raiding up a pair of 4TB Western Digital Greens (or better yet, Reds) would likely meet your needs.
 
ViRGE said:
Yes, your plan is a solid one. As long as we're clear that RAID is for redundancy purposes and not backup purposes (if you delete your photos they will be gone), then you should be set.

For an SSD it's hard to beat a Samsung 840 EVO right now. I don't know if a 120GB model will be enough, but I bet a 250GB will do. As for HDDs, raiding up a pair of 4TB Western Digital Greens (or better yet, Reds) would likely meet your needs.
Click to expand...

From what I'm reading, the 4TB WD Green is 5400rpm. Should I be looking for a 7200rpm model or will it really matter?

Also, redundancy is certainly good, but do you have any suggestions on a better backup system?
 
For data storage purposes, 5400 RPM drives are fine. You really only need 7200 RPM for performance critical applications and system drives.

As for a better backup system, that's going to depend in large part on the amount of data we're talking about here. If you need to backup all (or even 1/10th that) then any kind of online backup solution isn't going to fly. The best solution may be to put 1 4TB drive in your system, and then use an external 4TB drive to hold the second copy. Plug it in one a week to run a backup, etc. I'm assuming you're not particularly worried about off-site backups, so having that second 4TB drive pulling backup duty would be sufficient, since the idea is to not have it connected except to pull backups.
 
RAID 1, scrubbed regularly, would keep up to date copies safe. But, if anything goes wrong that isn't a HDD hardware failure, *poof* goes your data. Also, since you don't even list your OS, I'm guessing you don't have a build in way to do RAID 1, anyway.

Keeping a physically separate backup is the way to best protect your data, be it an external drive, or backup over the network.

What size SSD are you looking for? Here's some good ~250GB ones, in GB/$ descending order:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sandisk-internal-hard-drive-sdssdhp256gg25
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ct240m500ssd1
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st240hm000
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw
 
Cerb said:
RAID 1, scrubbed regularly, would keep up to date copies safe. But, if anything goes wrong that isn't a HDD hardware failure, *poof* goes your data. Also, since you don't even list your OS, I'm guessing you don't have a build in way to do RAID 1, anyway.

Keeping a physically separate backup is the way to best protect your data, be it an external drive, or backup over the network.

What size SSD are you looking for? Here's some good ~250GB ones, in GB/$ descending order:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sandisk-internal-hard-drive-sdssdhp256gg25
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ct240m500ssd1
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st240hm000
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw
Click to expand...

I'm running Win7 64 bit. I'm debating the external drive vs the internal RAID setup. I'm going to have to think about this.
 
Proprioceptive said:
I'm running Win7 64 bit. I'm debating the external drive vs the internal RAID setup. I'm going to have to think about this.
Click to expand...
Windows 7 Pro, or Enterprise/Ultimate? Home Premium does not support software RAID, which would mean getting added hardware and/or software for the job.
 
If you have a network, put one drive in each computer and back up the files on the second computer. This would be a poor man's solution.
 
ViRGE said:
The best solution may be to put 1 4TB drive in your system, and then use an external 4TB drive to hold the second copy.
Click to expand...

That would be my suggestion as well. A simple program like Acronis True Image can back up your data on the external drive or, if it's just data files... drag and drop. One plus to Acronis is you can validate the backup(s) to make sure the data isn't corrupt. If you buy WD HDDs, you can download a free, limited function version of Acronis... the free version will do what you need it to do, although the full retail version can be found often on sale for less than $30.

For myself, I use an internal 1TB, an external 500GB, and two rotating 500GB portable external drives for my backups. Like you, I have quite a bit of irreplaceable personal data as well as my business records. I used to have a cavalier attitude to my backup system... until my main hard drive failed on me. An Acronis backup brought it all back... but I've become a backup madman since.
 
I appreciate the help, guys. I went to Microcenter today and bought a 4TB external and 4TB internal and will use the external for backup. I also got a good deal on a Samsung 840 EVO 120GB. Now if I can just resist the urge to upgrade everything else...
 
Proprioceptive said:
I appreciate the help, guys. I went to Microcenter today and bought a 4TB external and 4TB internal and will use the external for backup. I also got a good deal on a Samsung 840 EVO 120GB. Now if I can just resist the urge to upgrade everything else...
Click to expand...

Shoot... you are half way there now, why stop? 😀
 
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