Raid vs Backup/sync software?

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Fri, 08/10/2007 - 11:08am

#1

bbig119

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Joined: 21 Jan 2007

Raid vs Backup/sync software?

Simple question, but I bet the answer( are quite a bit more complicated.

Generally speaking, is it smarter/better to use a synchronization or backup program to preserve precious data in event of a computer/hard drive catastrophe or is raid more applicable here where I should, "in theory" be able to restore data if I lose a drive.

I'm sure you want to know more information to be able to answer this question. Instead of writing a 2 page description, I'll just say that I was trying to think of a good way to backup some important files relevant to my thesis from my aging laptop today and downloaded a sync program to save said data to my external drive. This got me thinking that something similar might be a nice alternative to raid in order to safeguard data on various disks at home(movies, recorded tv, pictures, etc).

Fri, 08/10/2007 - 11:24am

#2

John

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Joined: 5 Aug 2006

RAID is good for preventing down time due to a drive failure. Backups are good for catastrophe recovery assuming they are thought out well enough.

RAID != backup.

Famous Last Words - "I am new to Linux, but my technical background should make this new adventure go smoothly."

Fri, 08/10/2007 - 11:33am

#3

George Schmauch

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Joined: 21 Dec 2006

Here's the "argument" from most backup junkies: RAID is not a backup solution. You always stand the risk of the data being lost, even though you have a RAID setup. With backups, you don't... unless, of course, the backup gets destroyed somehow.

It's really a matter of the effort you want to put forth and just how valuable the data would be if lost forever or needed to be restored from the original source (CD, DVD, etc). RAID requires a decent amount of work to set up, but then it's just a matter of monitoring it's health. Backups need to be scheduled and validated, plus updated to account for additional files that weren't included in the original plan.

Hehe... as I was typing this, John chimed in and echoed my first statement. ;D

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Fri, 08/10/2007 - 11:43am

#4

Crim

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Joined: 30 Sep 2006

It depends on what level of RAID your talking about, what kind of data how you plan on using the system.

If I needed a good about of HDD space (a terabyte or more) and I wanted to build a server to store all of my data on (media, pictures, data back ups, etc) then I'd go with five 400 gig HDDs in RAID5 for the reliability. (It's more cost-effective to use something other then a single terabyte drive if space isn't a concern. For a $60 more I can have two terabytes over five 400gig HDDs over a singel terabyte drive.)

But yeah, RAID isn't a backup solution. You'll still want to back up your important files to DVD or back up HDD.

Fri, 08/10/2007 - 2:11pm

#5

evilpenguin

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Joined: 18 Dec 2006

In my mind it really depends on how much you care about your data. If you can't under any circumstances stand to lose that data then backing up is really the only way to go. However, if you could stand to lose it, but REALLY don't want to, then RAID is a nice saftey net to get you through the inevitable bad days.

For me, I can't under any circumstances lose my OS data. I spent way to much time tweaking it to get it to how I needed it for my setup and at this point I honestly can't remember everything i've done. So for this I backup using Norton Ghost.

Its got an option where it will burn your image straight to a bootable DVD+/-R (or RW) and as long as you're very mindful of keeping your OS partition as clean as possible you can usually fit the entire thing onto a single disc. Something goes wrong? Pop in the DVD, boot off it, and re-load the image. Couldn't be easier. I generally do a monthly image onto a DVD-RW and then another image onto a DVD-R whenever I make a change that i'm particularly happy with.

Now, my data on the other hand is about 90% TV recordings which i've probably already watched so I don't care too much about losing it. As such, I have no backup or RAID protecting it.

Edit: Oh, and for the little stuff I don't want to lose like photos and documents I'll usually zip 'em up and send them to my gmail account.

Fri, 08/10/2007 - 3:27pm

#6

bbig119

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Joined: 21 Jan 2007

Thanks for the opinions guys. Pretty much what I thought. I have arcronis true image set to back up my OS regularly to my file server, although I should look into having it burn a bootable image to dvd- I like that.

As for my raid solution, nothing yet, but next time I plan an overhaul I'd like to set it up. So far its been build as I go after my initial HTPC construction and I add hard drives as I need and have money for-- not the smartest, but money is tight and I'm hoping I'll get by this way long enough till I can build a proper server from scratch. The most precious stuff is going to backups, but dvds and recorded TV are left to fare for themselves on the hope that I don't lose a drive. If I do, I'll be able to slowly bring it back, but they're movies- nothing irreplaceable.

evilpenguin wrote:

Edit: Oh, and for the little stuff I don't want to lose like photos and documents I'll usually zip 'em up and send them to my gmail account.

I like that idea-- never thought of it though. I do have a good many gigs of photos though.

Fri, 08/10/2007 - 8:21pm

#7

Blue

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Joined: 2 Oct 2006

Another tidbit about RAID 5: If the array fails, you lose all data. Not just the data on one drive, but the data on all drives.

But if you were to use JBOD, and a drive fails, you'll just lose the data on that drive.

With 1 TB drives on the market, RAID 5 just doesn't make much sense to me anymore. As far as I know, NTFS volumes can only be up to 2 TB anyway.

The only real advantage to RAID 5 is 24/7 (in theory at least) up time.

Thu, 09/06/2007 - 7:52pm

#8

Thematrixz

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Joined: 6 Sep 2007

I'd like to add that Raid 5 or 10 does give you some assurance about data protection, it won't help you in case your raid caught fire and burned down. Back up is the only way to keep data in a different location.

While saying that I don't have a way to back up my 3TB raid 5, well, not for my limited budget. I'm sure you can find enterprise back up solutions that will do that.

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