Best NAS RAID Mode level?

Hi folks

unlike the others here I use RAID 0 since it's the fastest and allows me to have max amount of storage space

HOWEVER THIS IS IMPORTANT : You need to backup data regularly as RAID 0 gives no protection if 1 HDD in the array fails -- my HDD's seem fairly reliable and as I do take backups (on to external HDD's) the risk for me is worth it. Since I'm running a Linux OS as my NAS server I'm using the software RAID (mdadm) which is streets faster than typical hardware RAID unless you have very expensive and dedicated RAID controllers and has the advantage that the RAID 0 array can be built out of any size HDD's --you don't need to have equal size HDD's to build the array.

It's largely a Risk to reward ratio - for me I like the speed of RAID 0 plus if I lose the array I can build it again easily enough from backups --if you need your system to be online 24 hrs then I'd go for RAID 1 or if you have enough HDD's RAID 10 (combination of RAID 1 and RAID 0).



Cheers
jimbo

So if I was to pick Raid 1 and get low on space after what option would I have? I would not be able to convert the drives to Raid 0 would I without loosing the data?

Thanks a lot guys, I’ve read Raid 1 half’s the data of the files, example of backup files 10gb it would half it on the Raid 1 to 5gb?

OK, thanks all for the replies, I'll go RAID1.

Since you are using the NAS device as a backup, it would mean that your NAS is the second copy of the data, and your hard drive on your machine is the source. In this case, using RAID or JBOD or spanning isn't as big of a deal. Unless you managed to lose your NAS and your original hard drive at the exact same time.

I always harp on the fact that you should keep backups "offsite". Meaning don't keep it at your house. My sisters house burned to the ground. Having a NAS copy in her house would have bought her nothing. She would have lost the source data (the HDD in the computer) at the same time she lost the NAS (also in her home during the fire).

Hi there
whatever you use - you will always need backup.

The argument here is whether you can afford to lose HALF your HDD capacity by using RAID 1 with the advantage of having a mega reliable data store or gain a huge amount of speed by using RAID 0 but at a risk of losing the array if any HDD in the array fails (albeit these days not a huge risk).

I've said since I already copy data to external USB backup the speed issue for me is worth it. If an array fails on my system I can restore via a re-build and in 3 years I haven't had to do this at all --although I do know HDD's can and do fail (fortunately not as often as people might think). I keep my USB external backups off site after taking them so I can always restore my data if necessary - even if it takes time --I'm not running a critical 24/7 type of server etc.

For other users if you take decent backups I can't see what the gain in using RAID 1 actually is for home users if you don't need 24/7 100% online operation. Running say a small business with payments / shopping carts etc then RAID 1 makes perfect sense.

I think you really need to decide what you actually want to do before even using RAID at all. Could be you'd be better off just using JBOD (just a bunch of disks) and ensuring you backup data regularly to other devices.

Cheers
jimbo

Do you guys put your NAS in hibernate mode when your not using them? Just noticed my NAS lets me go from a RAID partition to a JBOD without losing data which is a nice feature.

Learned a lot on NAS drives already thanks guys

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