Question RAID 1 in an old Fujitsu P420?

[SpaceTech]

Hi all,

My first post here!

So I recently picked up a super-cheap P420 off ebay. I was initially going to add a GTX 1050 IT OC to it and make it a backup machine should my main computer fail on me. But I decided to use a different HP desktop instead.

Today I had the idea of putting two HDD's in it in a RAID 1 config and using it a bit like a network drive to store my most important files on.

I used to build all my desktops, but for about 10 years I've only had laptops so I'm a bit out of the loop and I have a few questions. Before I ask my questions here are the specs of the machine:

Fujitsu P420
i3-4170
4GB RAM
80GB Intel SSD
D3230-A13 GS 2 Motherboard

Q1. Are there any reasons why I can't use this machine to do what I want?

Q2. The motherboard has 2(yellow) and 1(black) SATA sockets - see below image I got of the web with the SATA bottom right (the optical drive and HDD where both connected to the yellow sockets), so how should I connect the two HDD's for the RAID 1?

Q3. Is there any difference between the yellow and black SATA plugs?

Q4. Is something like this needed?

I have found two data sheets:

Computer - https://sp.ts.fujitsu.com/dmsp/Publications/public/ds-ESPRIMO-P420-E85.pdf?ex=1
Motherboard - ftp://ftp.ts.fujitsu.com/pub/Mainboard-OEM-Sales/Products/Mainboards/EoL/EoL_ClassicDesktop/Datasheets/D3xxx/DS_D3230-A.pdf but the STA sockets in this document do not match mine seen in the photo.

Cheers all.

 

[USAFRet]

RAID 1 is not really a good solution for a backup drive/system.
It is good for uptime sustainment, but not for data security.

And if you were to continue down the RAID road,. I would not do it without a dedicated RAID card. Which is not what you linked in Q4.

 

[SpaceTech]

RAID 1 is not really a good solution for a backup drive/system.
It is good for uptime sustainment, but not for data security.

What's a better option than RAID 1?

 

[USAFRet]

What's a better option than RAID 1?

Actual backups.

Generally, a 3-2-1 scenario is recommended.
3 copies, on 2 different media, at least 1 offsite.

And this is a common misconception.
A RAID 1 in your config is not much different than a single copy. The OS and the user sees but a single instance of a file.
Accidental deletion, and it is gone.

So, we backup.
A second drive with the full contents. And then update that regularly, automated.
That is a true backup, in that each drive and its contents are individually addressable, and what happens to one does not necessarily affect the contents of the other.

Read here for my solution.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

Some consider it a bit over the top, but that could easily be reduced down to a single external drive.

 

[SpaceTech]

Actual backups.

Generally, a 3-2-1 scenario is recommended.
3 copies, on 2 different media, at least 1 offsite.

And this is a common misconception.
A RAID 1 in your config is not much different than a single copy. The OS and the user sees but a single instance of a file.
Accidental deletion, and it is gone.

So, we backup.
A second drive with the full contents. And then update that regularly, automated.
That is a true backup, in that each drive and its contents are individually addressable, and what happens to one does not necessarily affect the contents of the other.

Read here for my solution.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

Some consider it a bit over the top, but that could easily be reduced down to a single external drive.

Interesting. My initial reaction is that does indeed seem like overkill tbh.

I will be working on files locally and I just want to copy some of them over to that machine, which I something I do now with an external HDD. I selected RAID 1 just because I'm concerned about HDD failure much more than I am about accidental deletion. So I was wrong to call it a "backup" machine. Plus I'm only looking to get 2x 2TB drives in there which is probably insufficient for proper backups.

I should say I'm not really looking to create backups, I'm just looking for a safer option than copying my files to an external HDD and as I already have this hardware gathering dust I thought it would be nice to make some use of it.

 

[SpaceTech]

So I need additional hardware to be able to use RAID 1 in this system?