I have a pile of drives that I'm thinking of re-purposing into a RAID array and had some questions that I can't seem to find a definitive answer to;
1. I've read everywhere that you should NOT consider RAID as a backup solution. I could be wrong but I believe these sites are talking about expecting RAID to be a backup on its own. Can I make an array in my machine of some old drives for the express purpose of backing up the main drives I'm using?
To reiterate; I would be using a few new drives I have for work and other general use but the RAIDed array would be used to back up the new drives. Is this an acceptable use of a RAID array or should a RAID array NEVER be used for backup ever?
2. I've read that I CAN use drives of different sizes. Downside is that the lowest size drive will be the limit of the array. I've also read you can use drives of different speeds and it will have a performance drop but is it a similar situation to the size limitation?
If I have 5 of one speed and 1 of a different speed (higher or lower) what would the effect be?
3. Related to the previous question; I currently have 4 1TB drives and 2 2TB drives that I'm considering using for this RAID setup. They range wildly in brand and speed. Is it possible to span the for 1TB drives into 2TB drives to combine with the other 2 2TB drives (making a total of 4 2TB drives?
As you can tell I'm very new to RAID stuff so any info would be greatly appreciated!
1. I've read everywhere that you should NOT consider RAID as a backup solution. I could be wrong but I believe these sites are talking about expecting RAID to be a backup on its own. Can I make an array in my machine of some old drives for the express purpose of backing up the main drives I'm using?
To reiterate; I would be using a few new drives I have for work and other general use but the RAIDed array would be used to back up the new drives. Is this an acceptable use of a RAID array or should a RAID array NEVER be used for backup ever?
2. I've read that I CAN use drives of different sizes. Downside is that the lowest size drive will be the limit of the array. I've also read you can use drives of different speeds and it will have a performance drop but is it a similar situation to the size limitation?
If I have 5 of one speed and 1 of a different speed (higher or lower) what would the effect be?
3. Related to the previous question; I currently have 4 1TB drives and 2 2TB drives that I'm considering using for this RAID setup. They range wildly in brand and speed. Is it possible to span the for 1TB drives into 2TB drives to combine with the other 2 2TB drives (making a total of 4 2TB drives?
As you can tell I'm very new to RAID stuff so any info would be greatly appreciated!