RAID 1 question - Multiple drives - Hardware Setup

[ShadowRaidTech]

Hi. I'm very new to RAID setups, and would like some clarification on how to set up RAID and mirror 6 drives and split them into 3 RAID 1 sets.

My goal is to have 2 WD Black2 hybrid drives and 4 4TB hard drives. I want to mirror the hybrid drives and have 8TB total across the other 4.

So basically I'm after:
Hybrid to Hybrid (copy)
4TB to 4TB (copy)
4TB to 4TB (copy)

My motherboard has 6 SATA 6Gb/s ports that all support RAID.

Am I right to assume that I can go into my BIOS, turn on the RAID feature (RAID 1 of course), have only the hybrid drives hooked up as I install my OS, then hook up the other 4 drives and it will copy them as just 2 drives?

Or will the 4TB hard drives all be the same copy unless other steps are performed?

Any tips or suggestions on setting up the array are GREATLY appreciated

 

[rhysiam]

I believe (tentatively) that you can do that. Once the OS is installed, you can then use the Intel RST software to configure the other two mirrored volumes. I'm not 100% to be honest, but the docos I've read suggests it should work.

Can I suggest you just have a rethink about what your goals are here. I'm guessing because you're mirroring these volumes that you care about the data that's on them and you don't want to lose it? Is that the goal, to keep your data safe?

One of the most common mistakes people make is to confuse RAID 1 or 5/6/10 with a backup. The ONLY situation those RAID types actually protect you from is a failed disk. There are lots of other data loss scenarios to which RAID provides no protection whatsoever, a virus/cryptolocker, accidental file deletion (user error), power surge, fire/flood, theft, etc etc etc. In these cases RAID doesn't help you one little bit, your data is just gone!

For most situations a standard (non-RAID) volume, with good (offsite if possible) backups is a much, much better way to protect important data. In that instance you are protected from all of the above.

The only case where RAID is more elegant is that it keeps your system running in the case of a failed disk. This is important in critical server environments. But disks really don't go that often. For non-critical business scenarios and almost all home scenarios, you're much better off having a good backup in place and, if you do lose a disk, replace it and reinstall or copy the files back. It might take a couple of hours down-time, but at least you've still got your data!

 

[ShadowRaidTech]

I believe (tentatively) that you can do that. Once the OS is installed, you can then use the Intel RST software to configure the other two mirrored volumes. I'm not 100% to be honest, but the docos I've read suggests it should work.

Can I suggest you just have a rethink about what your goals are here. I'm guessing because you're mirroring these volumes that you care about the data that's on them and you don't want to lose it? Is that the goal, to keep your data safe?

One of the most common mistakes people make is to confuse RAID 1 or 5/6/10 with a backup. The ONLY situation those RAID types actually protect you from is a failed disk. There are lots of other data loss scenarios to which RAID provides no protection whatsoever, a virus/cryptolocker, accidental file deletion (user error), power surge, fire/flood, theft, etc etc etc. In these cases RAID doesn't help you one little bit, your data is just gone!

For most situations a standard (non-RAID) volume, with good (offsite if possible) backups is a much, much better way to protect important data. In that instance you are protected from all of the above.

The only case where RAID is more elegant is that it keeps your system running in the case of a failed disk. This is important in critical server environments. But disks really don't go that often. For non-critical business scenarios and almost all home scenarios, you're much better off having a good backup in place and, if you do lose a disk, replace it and reinstall or copy the files back. It might take a couple of hours down-time, but at least you've still got your data!

Well, I was wanting to RAID 1 the 4TB drives as an extra form of integrity. I plan on buying a few external 4 to 8TB hard drives along with them because I still want to make multiple, external back ups and keep them locked away in my fire proof safe. But I render a lot of videos, quite often. And I figured having at least the hard drive I save my videos to in RAID 1 as well as my hybrid drive housing my programs and OS, I'd still be able to access and back up the files if one were to fail.