EXTREME NOOB question.

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yetyhunter

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Feb 3, 2009
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What is RAID? All I know is that 2 or more hdd's are needed. I have one 250GB hdd and i'm runing out of space so I need a second one.
 
Man thats complicated and LONG to read!!
So what raid solution do you recomend for 1 250GB and one 500GB HDD for best speed? And that means I will Have 750 GB?
 
Sounds like you just need some more hard-drives to store your files.

No need to worry about raid.
 
If you use RAID 0 they would, though then you'd be limited to a 500gb drive size. RAID is best used when you have similar drives and are looking to either increase performance at the expense of reliability (RAID 0) or increase reliability at the expense of drive space (RAID 1, and RAID 5 but not as badly).
 
what is google? :p just kidding - see below


* RAID 0 (striped disks) distributes data across several disks in a way that gives improved speed and full capacity, but all data on all disks will be lost if any one disk fails.

* RAID 1 (mirrored settings/disks) could be described as a real-time backup solution. Two (or more) disks each store exactly the same data, at the same time, and at all times. Data is not lost as long as one disk survives. Total capacity of the array is simply the capacity of one disk. At any given instant, each disk in the array is simply identical to every other disk in the array.

* RAID 5 (striped disks with parity) combines three or more disks in a way that protects data against loss of any one disk; the storage capacity of the array is reduced by one disk.

* RAID 6 (striped disks with dual parity) (less common) can recover from the loss of two disks.

* RAID 10 (or 1+0) uses both striping and mirroring. "01" or "0+1" is sometimes distinguished from "10" or "1+0": a striped set of mirrored subsets and a mirrored set of striped subsets are both valid, but distinct, configurations.
 
Don't forget a backup solution if you don't have one - RAID is not a backup.

For clarity:

JBOD: 250 + 500 = 750

RAID 1: 250 + 500 = 250 (only uses 250gb of 500gb drive)

RAID 0: 250 + 500 = 500 (only uses 250gb of 500gb drive)
 
[LYL]Homer;1033732262 said:
Don't forget a backup solution if you don't have one - RAID is not a backup.

For clarity:

JBOD: 250 + 500 = 750

RAID 1: 250 + 500 = 250 (only uses 250gb of 500gb drive)

RAID 0: 250 + 500 = 500 (only uses 250gb of 500gb drive)
Click to expand...

RAID 1, 5, and 10 are backup solutions..
 
saedrin said:
RAID 1, 5, and 10 are backup solutions..
Click to expand...

RAID is not a backup solution. It can be part of a larger backup solution, but by itself, it is not. RAID will not protect you from accidentally deleting a file/folder, a virus, or any sort of data manipulation. It will protect you from hardware failures to a point, but by no means should be the only method of data retention.

Look at the blog service that had zero backups and a disgruntled employee zero out the raid.
 
saedrin said:
RAID 1, 5, and 10 are backup solutions..
Click to expand...

If I had a $1 for every time someone posted that here...or $1 for every time someone comes crying with "bbbbbut I was running RAID!" after losing all their data....
 
saedrin said:
RAID 1, 5, and 10 are backup solutions..
Click to expand...

No, they are not.

Chances are, if you don't really know the entire purpose of RAID (to maximize greater uptime and overall general greater performance with greater I/Os), it probably isn't for you. It requires a hefty investment in a good controller card, especially with the more complex RAID modes (5, 6, 5EE, 50, 60), and really can be a headache for those using something like Windows Dynamic Disks or RAID 0 to "get more data available"...sometimes simplest is best, and I think the OP is best off just getting another drive and dumping data onto that one.
 
just learned that raid6 in zsh is raidz2 (or raid2z, I forget).
Software raid. In Freebsd probably needs memory and
tuning requirements.
.................. If one does not need a hardware raid...
..............................................................................
Just adding to the thread, not answering anything.
.............................................................................
 
OP, just go out and buy a 1TB drive with the 500 as backup, ditch the 250, and save yourself the trouble of RAID. If you don't know what it is and why you need it, you don't need it.

saedrin said:
RAID 1, 5, and 10 are backup solutions..
Click to expand...

You're recovering a 6-disk RAID 5 array from a failure and a second disk fails. Where's your "backup" then?

The only one I'd call a backup is RAID 1, and it's kinda stretching the term. RAID protects uptime, NOT data. An off-system backup is a must, with or without RAID.
 
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