Is this an acceptable RAID set up?

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qcpunk

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Jan 29, 2014
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Hi!

I am building a home office CAD system and was wondering if this setup sounds workable...

I would like to run a WD Black 2TB 2 7200rpm with one or two WD Red HDs for redundancy...

My thinking is that I can take advantage of the high speed performance of the Black drive while backing up on the Reds should the Black ever fail. Does this sound like a Viable option? or should I just run (2) WD Black drives in RAID1 from the beginning?

EDIT: Does this sound like RAID10? Also, I am thinking about 3 HDs max right now, mostly due to budget considerations....Viable? And Must RIAD 1 be setup from the beginning? or can I start with one HD while the bank account refills then simply ADD another drive later and set those to RAID 1?
 
Solution
G
You want all members of a RAID to be the same. Using a Black with a Red will provide the performance of a Red when writing and the Black when reading. The Black are not recommended for RAID use, but they normally are fine in RAID 1. RAID 10 requires 4 drives or more; RAID 5 requires 3 drives or more. A RAID 1, 5 or 10 is not a backup; you still need to perform backups to an external drive just in case your system suffers a catastrophic failure that also destroys the hard drives, the PC could get stolen, damaged in a fire, etc. Too many users realize backups are required until it's too late.

I usually don't use RAID on home systems; I install the additional hard disks in external enclosures to make backups.
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chrisso

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Nov 17, 2013
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I am going to burst your Bubble a little bit, and tell you that the only
'Viable' reliable raid set up is with any pci-e raid card that costs in the region of £100, or $165.
TWO of my friends both experienced in pc builds for ten yrs or more have tried to set up motherboard driven raid arrays on asus/gigabyte/whomever and have found the experience fraught with crashes and system recovery/re installs. Its a sure fire way to go bald.
They warned me, I am just passing it on.
 
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GhislainG

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Jul 16, 2008
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You want all members of a RAID to be the same. Using a Black with a Red will provide the performance of a Red when writing and the Black when reading. The Black are not recommended for RAID use, but they normally are fine in RAID 1. RAID 10 requires 4 drives or more; RAID 5 requires 3 drives or more. A RAID 1, 5 or 10 is not a backup; you still need to perform backups to an external drive just in case your system suffers a catastrophic failure that also destroys the hard drives, the PC could get stolen, damaged in a fire, etc. Too many users realize backups are required until it's too late.

I usually don't use RAID on home systems; I install the additional hard disks in external enclosures to make backups.
 
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Solution
Q

qcpunk

Honorable
Jan 29, 2014
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10,510
Thank you both for your super quick responses!!

Sorry Chriss, I had to give best solution to Ghislain because he gave more specific information, but it was really the combo of both of your answers that helped!

I see what you mean about the Black performing at only Red speeds...least common denominator situation ;). So I'm thinking that my best option is to just do scheduled backups to an external (which I already have) and/or add NAS later on.

Thanks again Guys, you have both saved me some Dough!

--Cheers!
 
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