im confused about raid can i mirror 2 drives to one larger one
- Thread starter ToaBomber
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PsyKhiqZero
Splendid
- Jun 1, 2008
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no. RAID is meant for redundancy. That is a systems ability to stay operational during a failure. It is not a backup. Try something like acronis true image which can be set to periodically copy the contents of the drives to the 2 TB drive. Or even create a system image for the OS.
PsyKhiqZero
Splendid
- Jun 1, 2008
- 3,171
- 0
- 21,960
Ok redundancy is not backing up. It's a very popular misconception. Raid 1 mirrors a drive onto a second drive. The drives run simultaneously. In the event of a HD failure the computer continues to run. The redundancy allows the system to continue to run without interruption. Redundancy is useful for servers where the information must always be available.
While it's true that the data is saved by the RAID 1, RAID is not designed for backup purposes. A backup is designed to make data recoverable in the event the data is destroyed. Here are some examples where the difference in definition is worth knowing.
1. Because the RAID 1 runs continuously and without user intervention, if the data is corrupted or lost by user error it is lost on both drives. There is no recovering.
2. A backup can keep files in various states. Think different revisions of the same file. The right backup can even restore a file to a previous state. Something a RAID can't do.
Now many people like to use RAID 1 as a backup. Mostly because is automatic. But again it only protects the data from a HDD failure. Also software like acronis can automate it for you. While the odds of 2 HDD failing at the same time is remote, you could say that a periodic backup to a second drive is safer. Since in a RAID 1 the drives run together all the time, they are experiencing the same amount of wear and are more likely to fail then a second hard drive which remain dormant until it is needed for backups.
While it's true that the data is saved by the RAID 1, RAID is not designed for backup purposes. A backup is designed to make data recoverable in the event the data is destroyed. Here are some examples where the difference in definition is worth knowing.
1. Because the RAID 1 runs continuously and without user intervention, if the data is corrupted or lost by user error it is lost on both drives. There is no recovering.
2. A backup can keep files in various states. Think different revisions of the same file. The right backup can even restore a file to a previous state. Something a RAID can't do.
Now many people like to use RAID 1 as a backup. Mostly because is automatic. But again it only protects the data from a HDD failure. Also software like acronis can automate it for you. While the odds of 2 HDD failing at the same time is remote, you could say that a periodic backup to a second drive is safer. Since in a RAID 1 the drives run together all the time, they are experiencing the same amount of wear and are more likely to fail then a second hard drive which remain dormant until it is needed for backups.
- Dec 2, 2009
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Also you can't mirror 2 drives to 1.
A mirror is 1 to 1 and will act as 1 drive. You can mirror 3 drives but again they will act as 1 drive, not 2 or 3. So for example, you mirrored the ssd to the 1tb to the 2tb you would end up with one drive, 250gb in size (Raid uses the smallest drive size) and each drive would be an exact copy of the SSD. The rest of the space on the Hard Drives would not be usable normally.
A higher end raid controller card would let you but that is probably above your ability currently.
As for backups, any important files (music, videos, pictures, game saves...) that you dont want to lose you need to have backed up. All drives fail eventually and having those files backed up to something else is the only way to survive it.
A mirror is 1 to 1 and will act as 1 drive. You can mirror 3 drives but again they will act as 1 drive, not 2 or 3. So for example, you mirrored the ssd to the 1tb to the 2tb you would end up with one drive, 250gb in size (Raid uses the smallest drive size) and each drive would be an exact copy of the SSD. The rest of the space on the Hard Drives would not be usable normally.
A higher end raid controller card would let you but that is probably above your ability currently.
As for backups, any important files (music, videos, pictures, game saves...) that you dont want to lose you need to have backed up. All drives fail eventually and having those files backed up to something else is the only way to survive it.
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