Data backup, RAID, external HDD, combo? What's good practice?

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alexb75

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So, I am building a new Win8 PC for my home. This PC would be used for (1) Media Server to other rooms (Movies, Music, Sonos, Plex), (2) Gaming, (3) Main personal PC. Using Core i7 Haswell, Asus/ASrock mobo, R9 270 GPU, Corsair 550D case, and few drives (below).

After many years neglecting backup, I'd like to ensure I come up with a good plan to easily and safely backup:
(1) ALL Documents, emails, Photos, Videos, Music from Personal PC
(2) ALL personal Documents, Photos, Videos, Music from *work laptop*
(3) Selected Movies from the main PC [don't care if I lose some temporary downloaded movies].
(4) Create an image of SSD drive, in case it fails so I can easily re-image a new boot drive

I have the following drives:
1. Intel 520 180GB SSD [plan to use for boot]
2. 3TB Hitachi 5400 RPM, very lightly used
3. 500GB 7200RPM WD Black drive - older and more wear [probably won't use]
4. 1TB WD Passport 2.5" External drive (some backup)

Plan to buy:
1. 3TB WD Red drive
2. Another external drive if necessary?

Questions:

    1. Should I RAID the two 3TB drives so they mirror each other, or that's too much if I have backup?
    2. Would using two different drives cause RAID issues?
    3. IF 1TB is enough for only my essential files (haven't tested), is 2.5" drive fine as an external backup? or I should look for a 3.5" external drive?
    4. How do I coordinate files between laptop and Desktop, and subsequently backup to external? I frequently add stuff to laptop at work, or while traveling. I'd like to just have it automatically synchronize back to Desktop when I come home
    5. Should I also do Cloud backup? or that's overkill?
    6. What's the best software on Win8 to make all of these happen and easily?
    7. Should I invest in a router with networking capability to do the backup (instead of physically off Desktop)?
    8. How do I check whether my external HDD backup drive is not having issues and doesn't need its own replacement?


Any help and guidance is appreciated. I've done RAID-0 in the past for performance, but have never done RAID-1, which of in itself may add complexity that I may not need if my backup plan is robust.

Thanks!
 
Solution
USAFRet
1. No (IMHO)
2. Somewhat. 5400RPM vs 7200RPM
3. A 2.5" is fine
4. A shared folder on the desktop, and a mapped drive from the laptop. An application (see #6) to copy new/changed files on a daily schedule.
5. Up to you
6. SyncBack Free does this. Point it at source and target folders, give it a schedule.
7. I wouldn't
8. Just check the SMART contion
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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1. No (IMHO)
2. Somewhat. 5400RPM vs 7200RPM
3. A 2.5" is fine
4. A shared folder on the desktop, and a mapped drive from the laptop. An application (see #6) to copy new/changed files on a daily schedule.
5. Up to you
6. SyncBack Free does this. Point it at source and target folders, give it a schedule.
7. I wouldn't
8. Just check the SMART contion
 
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alexb75

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Thanks, on #2, I meant to use Hitachi 3TB and WD Red 3TB together for RAID. Both are around 5400 RPM I believe, while Red says something between 5400-7200, but in reality it has tested to be just around 5400...

Also, so using 2.5" external should cause no reliability worries, right?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Personally, I wouldn't worry about the RAID, especially as this is for 'just data'. An automatic copy application can actually be safer.
With a RAID 1, if something is deleted, it is merely deleted twice on the two drives.
A copy application (as linked above) can be tuned to ignore deletions on Drive A. The file still exists on drive B.
 
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alexb75

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Thanks, so RAID is more useful if I didn't want to lose data access at anytime due to drive failure (like a server), correct? Basically if I create that shared folder, use the software recommended to backup regularly, I should be fine then, right?

Now, what about imaging the SSD drive? Should I use Win8 to do the regular backup to the HDD or the external drive? or the same software you recommended should do it? Also, for backing up to the external, what SW is recommended?

Last, I should 100% be ok with 2.5" external drive, right? most I see use 3.5" backups for desktops, but that's probably because it's cheaper per TB.

Thanks
 
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