Storage RAID Software vs. Hardware

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by pyro1son, 23 Feb 2011.

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RAID Software vs. Hardware

Poll closed 9 Mar 2011.
  1. Software RAID

    12.5%
  2. Hardware RAId

    87.5%
  1. pyro1son

    pyro1son Linux User!

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    I want to add RAID to my current setup (in sig) i don't need it for speed as such but just for piece of mind knowing all my document, videos, music, ect... are safe.
    I see many bit techers using hardware RAID but is software RAID good? or good enough for what i want?

    thanks guys
     
  2. Deders

    Deders Modder

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    From what I remember Window's software raid didn't add much of a CPU overhead and did the job perfectly well, the only thing is I don't think windows can boot from a Dynamic disk so make sure your OS is on a seperate disk.

    The advantage with software raid is that if you don't have Identically sized disks, you can still make use of the extra space.

    I expect there will be plenty of people who will advise using a backup program to create grandfather-father-son style backups instead of using raid.
     
  3. pyro1son

    pyro1son Linux User!

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    well ive got a gigabyte motherboard with built in RAID and the OS will soon be going on SSD
     
  4. Fingers66

    Fingers66 Kiwi in London

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    In b4 Pooks! :D

    RAID isn't going to keep your data safe, only a backup will do that.

    RAID will allow you to recover from a single hard drive failure more rapidly (mostly) than non-RAID but it won't protect your data from accidental deletion or corruption.

    If you are going to run RAID (e.g. mirroring) as well as a very regular backup, then you can benefit from a reduced recovery time if a hard drive fails as well as your data being safe.

    My suggestion would be to use the additional hard drive (that you were going to use in a RAID array) as an external backup drive, buy an external caddy (USB 3.0 or eSATA if your m/b supports it, USB 2.0 if the data volumes aren't huge) and buy Acronis True Image 2011.
     
  5. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    :D

    Fingers brings up good points. I voted for software raid, understanding this to be the kind of thing where at the end of every day a back up drive is updated with any changes you made to the primary drive.

    Also, if you are thinking about a real RAID1 set up, I'd recommend server class drives. I have a RAID1 array with 2x2TB Spinpoint F4s and they do like to fall out of sync every one in a while.
     
  6. pyro1son

    pyro1son Linux User!

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    i thought RAID 5 was good at keeping data safe and backing up
     
  7. saspro

    saspro IT monkey

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    It protects against 1 disk failure.

    If you delete or infect your files RAID-anything is not going to get them back for you
     
  8. slaw

    slaw At Argos buying "gold"

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    Raid won't prevent accidental file deletion or corruption. Only a good backup policy will do that. What RAID does is help if you have a disk fail on a live system and/or help speed up access to files.
     
  9. pyro1son

    pyro1son Linux User!

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    oh ok then i shall use the extra drives for back up,
    thanks guys
     
  10. The_Beast

    The_Beast I like wood ಠ_ಠ

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    :thumb: I would have said the same thing, RAID AIN'T BACKUP
     
  11. donok

    donok Every Little Helps .....

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    Personally prefer raid. Can't be manually backing up everything as I would never do it. However I'm pretty sure windows does that auto anyway.
     
  12. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    Works great right up to the point where you accidentally shift-delete your music collection/work etc.
     
  13. Deders

    Deders Modder

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    Having norton protected recycle bin would protect against that, it's basically a glorified undelete function, saved my files a few times.
     
  14. play_boy_2000

    play_boy_2000 ^It was funny when I was 12

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    If your data is unreplaceable then RAID + weekly backups. If its replaceable, but just a real pain in the ass to reaquire (such as a media collection), RAID5 should do just fine. If I lost my 2.6TB media collection id probably have a small nervious breakdown, so its getting to the point where a pair of 1.5 or 2TB drives connected via NAS makes a lot of sense.
     
  15. Deders

    Deders Modder

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    Remember raid 5 needs 3 identical disks, raid 1 is purely mirroring with 2.

    The other advantage of raid 5 is potentially doubled read (but not write) speeds.
     
    Last edited: 24 Feb 2011
  16. play_boy_2000

    play_boy_2000 ^It was funny when I was 12

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    Depends on if the controller is any good. Mine does over 150MB/s
     
  17. Deders

    Deders Modder

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    What disks are you using?
     
  18. play_boy_2000

    play_boy_2000 ^It was funny when I was 12

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    seagate 7200.11s x6
     

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