RAID1 versus regular backups or both?

[garndawg]

Hi folks,

I'm revisiting an four-year old decision to go RAID1 (full mirror) on my data drive opf 2x500GB samsungs (holds family pics, etc). I'm about to rebuild my system and have read a couple of articles that are rather adamant against RAID. I've got a 1TB WD Blue in a USB/eSATA external case already.

I decided that it'd be so easy to just do a h/w swap if one of the HDD's failed, plus I had a board that supported it and was too lazy to research all the backup s/w options available. Plus, I was sorta' burned out of spending money and another $30 or so for backup software just depressed me.

So here's the questions:
Pros/Cons of RAID1 versus regular backups? Both? If backups, what software do you prefer?

Thanks in advance!

 

[paperwastage]

remember, RAID != backup

RAID1 is meant for fault tolerance ( you can have one drive down, and you go and quickly replace that drive)... and if something goes wrong with your hardware/software RAID controller, you might not be able to get your info back

I'd do regular backups..... do you want to be able to get incremental changes? Do you mind having it offsite/online (better strategy than keeping it in the same place where a fire can destroy both copies)

 

[IndyColtsFan]

To repeat: RAID != backup.

Let's say you rely only on RAID1 for "backups." What happens if that volume is infected with malware and trashes a bunch of data? The malware is mirrored onto the other volume in the RAID1 set. You should ALWAYS run actual backups.

In my case, I back my workstations up to a server and then back the server up in two different ways:

1. Local backups using Windows Server Backup (VMs plus critical data and bare metal restore files, but no videos)
2. Cloud backup using Crashplan+ of critical data plus videos (no VMs)

I'm running 16 VMs on my main server and those are currently only backed up in the local backup. I currently have about 1.2 TB of videos and those are backed up in the cloud (differential) and when I add new videos, I also copy them to another drive that I call the "vault" drive for local back up purposes.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Plus, I was sorta' burned out of spending money and another $30 or so for backup software just depressed me.

There is no need to spend money up-front for back-up software.

Terabyte's Image for Linux is free-to-try.

SyncBack has a free version also.

I have not personally used CrashPlan, but I hear it's solid, and easy to use.

If those family photos are very important to you, you should be following the 3-2-1 rule. 3 copies. 2 different media, 1 offsite. Actually, that entire page has a good summary of the distinctions between fault-tolerance, and back-up, and why said distinction is important.

 

[Anteaus]

As for articles being against RAID, it isn't that RAID is bad. It's that many people misunderstand its purpose and use it inappropriately as a substitute for a real backup. In an appropriate configuration, RAID can increase performance and/or increase fault tolerance, but there is always a compromise.

In any case it's good that you are taking these steps now and now after data loss, which unfortunately happens more than you think.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I agree with everyone else. RAID is not a backup, but it has it's uses.

I have a 2TB RAID 1, I have two additional 2TB drives for backups, and a couple smaller sized USB external for critical data backups.

When I was running Windows, I used Create Synchronicity for full / incremental backups.

I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 now, use rsync...and use the gsync gui.

 

[garndawg]

Thanks for all the replies, folks.

Plan for now is:
C-drive: 250GB SSD - OS+Office+Games
D-drive: 500GB HDD - Files, pics, stuff
E-drive: 500GB HDD - Backup of D
External USB/eSATA: 1TB backup of C and D

Anything out there worth spending money on past the standard Win7 Pro backup?

 

[HydroSqueegee]

I backup everything with Crashplan.

PCs and laptops back up to Windows Home Server box
Pictures, movies and music are on one large volume on the server and shared via homegroups
Crashplan backs up everything on the server

110% worth it in case anything happens to my home/computers. plenty of critical data id be very upset losing.

 

[aigomorla]

To repeat: RAID != backup.

i want to repeat this as its very important and always misunderstood.

Its fault tolerance... not backup.

 

[taq8ojh]

I always thought backup was software that does, you know, back your data up. Backing data up on RAID1 "platform" is pretty good solution.

 

[ch33zw1z]

RAID1 is a solution for fault tolerance. It's not considered a backup.

 

[taq8ojh]

It would be interesting to see how everyone defines the term backup.

 

[Essence_of_War]

I always thought backup was software that does, you know, back your data up. Backing data up on RAID1 "platform" is pretty good solution.

Octopuss,

RAID 1 is a reasonably good protection from drive failure. It's not a very good protection from:
1) Viruses
2) Hacking
3) File System errors and R/W corruption
4) Natural Disasters
5) Power Surges (often related to 4)
6) Human/Operator Errors (has been known to happen even during the re-building of a RAID1 array!)
7) Theft

Off-line and off-site back-ups can help protect against all of these IN ADDITION to protecting against drive failure.

 

[taq8ojh]

Oh wait, I can see a misunderstanding right there.
Do you mean there are people out there who use RAID1 setup as regular disk and call it a backup? That would be pretty dumb. I do have RAID1 setup in a NAS as standalone backup solution.

 

[Broheim]

To repeat: RAID != backup.

I cannot stress this enough!

 

[Essence_of_War]

Oh wait, I can see a misunderstanding right there.
Do you mean there are people out there who use RAID1 setup as regular disk and call it a backup? That would be pretty dumb. I do have RAID1 setup in a NAS as standalone backup solution.

Indeed. I believe this was what the OP was doing

 

[garndawg]

Indeed. I believe this was what the OP was doing

A'yup. That's what I was a'doin'...
/foghorn leghorn

 

[paperwastage]

Thanks for all the replies, folks.

Plan for now is:
C-drive: 250GB SSD - OS+Office+Games
D-drive: 500GB HDD - Files, pics, stuff
E-drive: 500GB HDD - Backup of D
External USB/eSATA: 1TB backup of C and D

Anything out there worth spending money on past the standard Win7 Pro backup?

just saying, it's not a great backup solution, but passable

Scenario: what happens when a power surge hits your computer when you are backing up to external USB? both hdds in the desktop could fry, so could the external USB....

if you think this risk is low, then carry on...

(I myself use clonezilla to clone my C: \, so that I know I have a clean slate to restore my Operating System immediately.... and rsync/other stuff to backup actual data)

 

[DaveSimmons]

Also, keeping all of your backups in one spot is very dangerous. Fire, flood, theft, power surge.

If the files are irreplaceable, you need off-site backup. Cloud, safety deposit box, mailing a hard drive to family at another location -- something.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Even something as simple as taking a back-up drive to work!

It's actually a pretty good idea because if you have a standard workplace, you go there regularly already, so it can be easy to cycle back-ups to-and-from your off-site location without having to plan special trips.

 

[Zxian]

I'll be another voice that says RAID != backup. We'll keep beating this horse until people get it.


What I would suggest would be the following:

Use Windows Backup to back up your system files. Follow the wizard prompts and make sure to create a system image (of System Reserved and C. Save this to F:\Backup\System (assuming your external is F. You can use this and a recovery disc (or installation disc) to restore your system if anything goes bonkers. The wizard should let you set this as a scheduled task as well, so it will happen once a week (which is plenty for most system drives).

Use Crashplan to backup your personal data files. You can set both your E drive and F drive as destinations for this backup set. Crashplan will automatically backup all the data, and create versions as well in case you need to restore something from history. If you're willing to spend the money, get their cloud storage option. Having a copy of your important documents outside of your house is important. As DaveSimmons mentioned, mother nature, theft, or EMPs could take out all data that exists at home. I've got a copy of my data stored on a friend's server (he lives in LA), as well as with Crashplan's cloud storage.

 

[aigomorla]

Oh wait, I can see a misunderstanding right there.
Do you mean there are people out there who use RAID1 setup as regular disk and call it a backup? That would be pretty dumb. I do have RAID1 setup in a NAS as standalone backup solution.

yes...

People think Raid is a backup.
It can be a backup... if data is lost on another drive and information is on the RAID drive, it can be a source of backup.

However a true definition of backup means if the device itself was to fail, there is another device to restore or replace it right away.

So a Raid can only be a backup if it is indeed backing up another RAID.
But Raid itself is fault tollerance... meaning can take more abuse before it needs a backup to kick in.

 

[yinan]

I am using Crashplan for one of my fileservers now. I am thinking about using it to offsite my backups of all my VMs and media servers. But with the media server it would be funny to have to wait about 3 months for the sync to be complete. I can upload about 110 GB/day with FIOS 75/35.

 

[JimmiG]

No RAID for me

C: System drive (OS, games, apps)
D : Personal files, installers for bought programs/games, serial numbers etc.
E: Backup of C and D :

External 2TB drive: Backup of C and D

I use Acronis True Image for backups.

 

[glugglug]

For a data drive, you definately don't need sophisticated backup software. I have a scheduled task that runs robocopy on certain directories every 6 hours for that sort of thing. I only use imaging software for the system drive.