I'm ramping up for a major system update, and one of the items I want to pursue is a more serious backup solution.
The motherboard has 4 SATA and one IDE connector. The SATA supports RAID 5.
I also have a Ximeta NetDisk (network attached storage) at my disposal.
Here's what I'm thinking:
* (2) ATA HDDs on the IDE interface, running my OS (Vista Premium). No RAID here, but I'll have Norton Ghost run a regular backup of the OS drive. I already own these two drives, in relatively new condition.
* (3) SATA HDDs in a RAID 5 array, for data, financial stuff, downloads, pictures and MP3s. I don't own these drives yet, but I presume they'll be much faster devices than the ATAs running the operating system.
* (1) NetDisk on the LAN. This will serve two purposes -- backup the SATA drives, but also serve as a network drive for a yet-unbuilt media server in another room as primary access to MP3s.
I realize this setup throws the two slowest drives at the OS, which isn't desirable, but I'm no power user. I would have the option of installing I/O intensive applications (games? Photoshop/Premier?) onto the SATA drives, if it would make a performance difference.
It also means that my NetDisk splits duty as a back-up location AND a primary drive for music for the other computer on the network. My gut call is this is generally a no-no, but on the other hand, when this device becomes corrupted, the RAID array should have me covered while I get things working again.
I'd rather not install the OS on the SATA array because I really, really like the idea of being to nuke Vista on a whim and perform a clean install, without the usual baggage that comes along with doing this on a single disk setup.
For what it's worth, the system is a Dell Inspiron 530 (Foxconn G33M M/B with RAID 5 hack) with 4 SATA and 1 IDE, Quad Core Q6600 processor.
I've never messed with RAID before, but have always wanted to.
Any thoughts on my methodology?
The motherboard has 4 SATA and one IDE connector. The SATA supports RAID 5.
I also have a Ximeta NetDisk (network attached storage) at my disposal.
Here's what I'm thinking:
* (2) ATA HDDs on the IDE interface, running my OS (Vista Premium). No RAID here, but I'll have Norton Ghost run a regular backup of the OS drive. I already own these two drives, in relatively new condition.
* (3) SATA HDDs in a RAID 5 array, for data, financial stuff, downloads, pictures and MP3s. I don't own these drives yet, but I presume they'll be much faster devices than the ATAs running the operating system.
* (1) NetDisk on the LAN. This will serve two purposes -- backup the SATA drives, but also serve as a network drive for a yet-unbuilt media server in another room as primary access to MP3s.
I realize this setup throws the two slowest drives at the OS, which isn't desirable, but I'm no power user. I would have the option of installing I/O intensive applications (games? Photoshop/Premier?) onto the SATA drives, if it would make a performance difference.
It also means that my NetDisk splits duty as a back-up location AND a primary drive for music for the other computer on the network. My gut call is this is generally a no-no, but on the other hand, when this device becomes corrupted, the RAID array should have me covered while I get things working again.
I'd rather not install the OS on the SATA array because I really, really like the idea of being to nuke Vista on a whim and perform a clean install, without the usual baggage that comes along with doing this on a single disk setup.
For what it's worth, the system is a Dell Inspiron 530 (Foxconn G33M M/B with RAID 5 hack) with 4 SATA and 1 IDE, Quad Core Q6600 processor.
I've never messed with RAID before, but have always wanted to.
Any thoughts on my methodology?
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