RAID 1 question

[ahsia]

Is it okay to run RAID 1 on two different drives? I have one 200GB Seagate and one 200GB Western Digital. Thanks for your time.

 

[MobiusPizza]

erm should be possible. RAID 1 is not as picky as RAID 0

 

[airfoil]

While its a good idea to use identical drives so that performance is matched, there shouldn't be a problem with drives from different manufacturers.

 

[ahsia]

Cool...

my main concern is to have this data backed up. Performance is not as important.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Just remember, RAID1 is not a complete backup solution. It only protects against hardware failures. If you overwrite the data, get a virus or delete something its still gone so its a good idea to have a backup from time to time

 

[ahsia]

Would u recommend running two drives as raid 1, or using two drives seperately and using a backup software solution?

 

[Crusty]

If you have a hardware controller instead of a software driven one(ie onboard) then I would go with RAID 1. it makes it much easier to transfer the array to a new system in case of hardware failure. While it is possible to move the array from one onboard to another onboard, it is MUCH easier if you have a hardware controller card.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

In reference to RAID 1 vs. backing up, I'd say both. However, are the drives new or old? If they are older drives, and the possibility of failure exists (atleast higher than new drives anyway), then I would go with just backup onto another drive. However, if they are newer drives, I would do a RAID 1 array having 2 partitions, and use one, and have the other for backup...
Tas.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Raid1 is great for having little to no downtime when swapping a spare drive for a failed one. I just like to caution users that RAID1 is not the be all end all that some claim it to be. It protects against drive failure and thats it. So like I said above, when the virus hits or you "accidentally" delete something, its gone. I recommend Raid1 with occasional backup for users that are concerned about their data and RAID5 with daily for mission critical data

 

[ahsia]

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
Raid1 is great for having little to no downtime when swapping a spare drive for a failed one. I just like to caution users that RAID1 is not the be all end all that some claim it to be. It protects against drive failure and thats it. So like I said above, when the virus hits or you "accidentally" delete something, its gone. I recommend Raid1 with occasional backup for users that are concerned about their data and RAID5 with daily for mission critical data

I guess I am less worried about virus or accidentally deleting a file. It's more against hardware failure. I've lost two drives because they've gone bad, but have yet to lose files because I accidentally deleted them.

Thanks!!