Question Plex server HDD questions

[shordinges]

I recently built an overkill plex server that I need to convert to two redundant Raid 1 drives and cant quite figure out which drives I need. The original setup was a RPi 3B+ with an external USB 4TB HDD. But this soon proved to not handle streaming beyond my home network and could not share with my family. I have the USB external drive hooked up to my new i9 w/16gb and everything is flawless/quiet. But WHEN the drive fails I will loose the hundreds of hours of my life ripping the data.

I am looking for x2 6 TB HDDs in Raid 1 configuration that is quiet but can handle 3 1080p streams at once (really 2 streams at once is rare but just in case).
Do I need a WD Red NAS drive, a WD Datacenter drive, 5400, 7200, or faster (prefer not since they get noisy)

 

[faalin]

First off Raid 1 is not a backup solution, it protects against drive failure but not file corruption or deletion. Raid 1 is also slower at write speeds vs a single disc since raid has to write to both disc.

Since your running a Plex server that anyone could get access to it would be wise to do a backup system instead of a raid system.

I run 3 6TB WD red pro drives in my computer, one has been in there for 6 years while the others were just added a few weeks ago. The oldest houses 4.5TB of steam games so its always active with updates or me gaming.

 

[shordinges]

Since your running a Plex server that anyone could get access to it would be wise to do a backup system instead of a raid system.

As far as I know they don't have the rights to delete or modify the files, they should only be able to stream them from the server with their firetv stick. It sounds like you have a lot more read/write than I do with gaming and updates, mine is just add a file and let the server read them. So the write speed I'm not too worried about, but the drive failure is my current concern as it will undo everything I have put together. Are the red "PROS" just increased RPM NAS drives?

I will still update the external drive from time to time and keep it in the drawer for the ultimate backup in case things get really bad.

I guess on a side note since you mentioned anyone can access them (assuming you mean hacked) I will set the drives up to be read only and require a login when I want to add/modify files to it. The contents wont have personal data so there wont be anything there they cant get from torrents.

 

[popatim]

As mentioned, if you dont want to re-rip then the best plan is using one as a backup drive that is left disconnected until it's needed.

If you insist on using raid 1 then we need to know if this will be motherboard raid (wipes the involved drives), some other hardware raid (wipes the involved drives), or OS raid (which OS???)

You see, odds are likely that you need a backup of your media anyways if you don't have one already.

I use a mix. I have 2 Toshiba drives, 2 WD Blue, 2 Seagate. None are NAS drives but all are 5400rpm.

And yeah, an i9 is some serious overkill for media streaming. 👍

 

[popatim]

Will this be motherboard raid (wipes the drives), hardware raid card (wipes the drives), or OS raid (Which OS??)