Can I Raid 1 between a PC HDD & a NAS?

[questionsnas123]

My Situation:

I have one 1TB HDD & one 2TB HDD in my computer.My HDD's are getting full so i am going to buy the following NAS:

https://www.amazon.in/WD-Cloud-WDBVXC0040HWT-BESN-Personal-Storage/dp/B076PJF94K?tag=googinhydr18418-21

I want to backup or mirror the data on my PC's HDD's and also have all media files on a network to access them through iPad,iPhone & TV from anywhere in the home.


My questions are as follows:

1)Can I make a Raid 1 mirror copy of my PC's HDD's to a NAS?

2)Does Windows 10 backup mirror the files on NAS or keeps multiple versions of the same file and does it take more space for multiple version of files? - If multiple version of files then how do i find the latest file version and

3)How to setup Raid 1 without a RAID Adapter?

4)If I do a fresh Windows 10 installation and then one of the RAID 1 drive fails,will the other drive have full windows installation or only some backed up files? - Remember i only want to Raid though a software raid not a Adapter Raid

 

[mdd1963]

You can certainly back up your boot drive and all it's existing partition structure and all data by copying an image of it to your NAS, but that image is simply that, .and not referred to as a 'RAID copy', etc......(commonly done with Macrium Reflect, Acronis True Image, AOMEI Backupper, Clonezilla, etc)

The secondary storage drive merely needs it's data stored in a secondary location, not so much a perfect image of it....

RAID 1 does not sound relevant to what you are trying to accomplish, but most MB's have onboard RAID support where two drives are setup with RAID 1 in the MB's onboard RAID setup in BIOS, and are then perfectly copied/mirrored so that if one fails, the rig still boots off the other. All saves to that drive throughout the day are saved precisely on both drives.

If you have an image of your drive saved on an extrenal drive or network location, in the event of a drive failure, you would boot from boot media created within the cloning/imaging software, point it to the location of your saved image, and retore from that location, which would restore your computer to the exact condition it was at the time of the save. (Assuming you now have a good C drive to restore to)

Most folks don't use RAID cards, as many mainboards the last 10-15 years have onboard supported RAID 0/1/5/10...

 

[4745454b]

I agree with mdd1963. Copy over any media files you want accessible from other devices. That should free up room on your PC. Want to watch stuff on your PC? Just stream it like it's another device.

 

[questionsnas123]

but can't i make a RAID 1 setup between my PC's HDD's and a NAS?(it is probably possible through disk management setting in windows)

AND

I don't want to make an image as i need constant backup or mirroring of new files or editing existing files

AND

what about scheduled windows backup? - will that work like RAID 1 or does it store multiple file versions and take up more space?

AND

i don't want to shift my files to a NAS as i want backup or mirroring if my one drive fails

 

[USAFRet]

but i can't make a RAID 1 setup between my PC's HDD's and a NAS?

AND

I don't want to make an image as i need constant backup or mirroring of new files or editing existing files

AND

what about scheduled windows backup? - will that work like RAID 1 or does it store multiple file versions and take up more space?

1. No, you can't do a RAID 1 like that
2. Scheduled images (backups) works just fine
3. There are better tools than Windows backup.

Use the NAS as your primary store for shared data. Music and videos that you want other systems to access.
With whatever tool you want...have a scheduled backup (NOT RAID 1) of that off to another drive.


My NAS box (Qnap TS-453A) is the primary store for large shared media. It also does an automated backup to a USB connected drive on a schedule.

 

[questionsnas123]

but i can't make a RAID 1 setup between my PC's HDD's and a NAS?

1. No, you can't do a RAID 1 like that
2. Scheduled images (backups) works just fine
3. There are better tools than Windows backup.

Use the NAS as your primary store for shared data. Music and videos that you want other systems to access.
With whatever tool you want...have a scheduled backup (NOT RAID 1) of that off to another drive.


My NAS box (Qnap TS-453A) is the primary store for large shared media. It also does an automated backup to a USB connected drive on a schedule.

what all tools are there for backup then?

also,does backup mirror files(latest version of a file) or have multiple versions of same file?

 

[USAFRet]

what all tools are there for backup then?

also,does backup mirror files(latest version of a file) or have multiple versions of same file?

All depends on exactly what you want to do, and how much data.

I use Macrium Reflect for this, and the built in backup procedure in my Qnap OS.

My current procedure is thus:
PC's get backed up to the NAS nightly. All drives across multiple systems.
The NAS box holds those backups, and the entire movie/music store. That movie/music is accessible by any system in the house.
The NAS box is backed up weekly to a USB connected drive. Only copies over new or changed files.

All the data, across all systems, lives on at least two drives. Often 3. For critical data, that also lives on a whole different drive, off-site.

Read more here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3383768/backup-situation-home.html