Question What is the best software RAID/pool management for Windows?

[Bunford6980]

I have 4 x 18TB Seagate Ironwolf Pro hard drives and a TerraMaster D6-320 enclosure.

I have 18TB total combination of NVMe and SSDs internally within my desktop.

I am hoping to use the external enclosure and drives as an external backup and storage space.

What is the best way to set up with decent read and write speeds? The enclosure is USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps and has no hardware RAID.

Is there any software RAID solution I can use? And ideally, one that will let me switch enclosure over to my laptop too and still be usable in the same way.

 

[Ralston18]

RAID is not a backup solution.

Set RAID (of any level) aside and focus on backing up using something like Macrium Reflect.

All will be much easier.

In anycase, the speeds will be limited to the slowest component involved.

Another option is to use a NAS.

Look/wait for other suggestions and ideas.

 

[USAFRet]

I have 4 x 18TB Seagate Ironwolf Pro hard drives and a TerraMaster D6-320 enclosure.

I have 18TB total combination of NVMe and SSDs internally within my desktop.

I am hoping to use the external enclosure and drives as an external backup and storage space.

What is the best way to set up with decent read and write speeds? The enclosure is USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps and has no hardware RAID.

Is there any software RAID solution I can use? And ideally, one that will let me switch enclosure over to my laptop too and still be usable in the same way.

My setup is not a lot different than yours.

I just have Macrium Reflect write full drive Images (incremental) every night. From the PCs to a folder tree on the NAS.

Each system and each physical drive individually.


You really really do not want to do any "RAID" thing between your system(s) and that external enclosure.
Bad idea on many many levels.

 

[DSzymborski]

Yeah, seeing the RAID idea is troubling. As noted, RAID is a very poor backup solution; it's an extremely niche *availability* solution, for a few people with very, very specific workloads that most consumers don't. It doesn't even have the cache of a bit of cool factor as it used to, now it's the equivalent of buying a pair of jeans with pre-made holes in them.

 

[Bunford6980]

RAID is not a backup solution.

Set RAID (of any level) aside and focus on backing up using something like Macrium Reflect.

All will be much easier.

In anycase, the speeds will be limited to the slowest component involved.

Another option is to use a NAS.

Look/wait for other suggestions and ideas.

I already have my backup process sorted, and just looijg for a RAID solution for my external backup.

I have 18Tab of NVMe and SSDs internally in my desktop. These have my OS and my mission critical and important data.

The external storage is to backup the desktop onto, as well as store non mission critical data.

This post is about how I cna optimise and split my external enclosure up and utilise RAID to improve performance. My initial thinking was to crate two 2 x 18TB RAID0 pairs that mirror each other, giving me performance benefits of RAID0 but also in effect giving me RAID-like mirror as the backup.

My external enclosure, being a DAS, is the to be backup up to my Backblaze account.

Therefore, I am fully aware RAID alone I snot a backup solution, but what I am looking for is how to manage RAID solutions on an external enclosure that will low me to back up my desktop onto the first RAID0 pair, which will in turn be backed up by being cloned onto a second RAID0 pair. Which will then be backed up to Backblaze. That should give me ample backups, but I need a software RAID solution for my external enclosure to do this.

I am also not interested in a NAS as I only need local solution for my desktop or my on site laptop, and do not require simultaneous or web access, Notwithstanding NAS solutions are not included within the Backblaze backup offerings whilst DAS solutions are.

 

[Bunford6980]

My setup is not a lot different than yours.

I just have Macrium Reflect write full drive Images (incremental) every night. From the PCs to a folder tree on the NAS.

Each system and each physical drive individually.


You really really do not want to do any "RAID" thing between your system(s) and that external enclosure.
Bad idea on many many levels.

Why would is be a bad idea? Wouldn't using something like Windows Storage Spaces in RAID0 pairs improve read and write performance?

I am asking because some of the nob mission critical/less often used data on there will be audio production tools, such as Native Instruments Kontakt sample libraries where performance is better when drive performance is better, particukarlyread speeds. However, with some sample libraries being 150GB+ each, offloading to an external enclosure is more realistic in terms of disk capacity utilisation.

 

[Bunford6980]

Yeah, seeing the RAID idea is troubling. As noted, RAID is a very poor backup solution; it's an extremely niche *availability* solution, for a few people with very, very specific workloads that most consumers don't. It doesn't even have the cache of a bit of cool factor as it used to, now it's the equivalent of buying a pair of jeans with pre-made holes in them.

As above posts, I am not considering RAID as a sole backup solution, but rather primarily for the performance gains from the RAID0 setup for better performance in certain software, where drive read/write speeds can impact the software's performance.

 

[USAFRet]

I already have my backup process sorted, and just looijg for a RAID solution for my external backup.

I have 18Tab of NVMe and SSDs internally in my desktop. These have my OS and my mission critical and important data.

The external storage is to backup the desktop onto, as well as store non mission critical data.

This post is about how I cna optimise and split my external enclosure up and utilise RAID to improve performance. My initial thinking was to crate two 2 x 18TB RAID0 pairs that mirror each other, giving me performance benefits of RAID0 but also in effect giving me RAID-like mirror as the backup.

My external enclosure, being a DAS, is the to be backup up to my Backblaze account.

Therefore, I am fully aware RAID alone I snot a backup solution, but what I am looking for is how to manage RAID solutions on an external enclosure that will low me to back up my desktop onto the first RAID0 pair, which will in turn be backed up by being cloned onto a second RAID0 pair. Which will then be backed up to Backblaze. That should give me ample backups, but I need a software RAID solution for my external enclosure to do this.

I am completely baffled by the thought that you need a RAID solution for this.
Completely.

Me...I would designate 1x 18TB drive for backups from the PC.
1x for backups from all the other house systems.
1x for games or whatever other storage.

Even if that enclosure had its own built in RAID function.

A RAID 0 is the absolute worst thing to put your backups on.

And...if you were to instantiate a RAID 0 from software on your PC....then connecting that enclosure to the laptop...this will not go well.

 

[USAFRet]

Why would is be a bad idea? Wouldn't using something like Windows Storage Spaces in RAID0 pairs improve read and write performance?

I was referring to somehow doing a RAID (of any type) between your internal drives and the drives in this enclosure.

But...

I am asking because some of the nob mission critical/less often used data on there will be audio production tools, such as Native Instruments Kontakt sample libraries where performance is better when drive performance is better, particukarlyread speeds. However, with some sample libraries being 150GB+ each, offloading to an external enclosure is more realistic in terms of disk capacity utilisation.

Still not seeing the RAID need.

Performance is dictated by the slowest device in the chain. Here, the USB interface between PC and external.
In my realm, there is no difference in performance between PC and NAS, whether single HDD, SSD, or HDD RAID 0. The gigabit LAN is the slow sister.

A StorageSpace pseudoRAID instantiated on the PC will break if then connecting tot he laptop.

 

[USAFRet]

Bottom line - I can't recommend a good way to do any RAID with this, because I simply would not do it. I can't see any upside here.