System configuration

[MichaelP]

I am currently in the process of building a new system and some help with my configuration. I am currently considering buying 3- 500gig hard drives and configuring them as RAID 5. My other thought is buying 2- 500 gig hard drives and 1- smaller drive for my OS (Windows 7). I would also purchase an external HD for backups. Any help or different ideas would be helpful. This is to be a well rounded system: gaming, data, videos, music and photos. Thank you

 

[geofelt]

The value of raid-1 and it's variants like raid-5 for protecting data is that you can recover from a hard drive failure quickly.
It is for servers that can't afford any down time.
Recovery from a hard drive failure is just moments.
Fortunately hard drives do not fail often.
Mean time to failure is claimed to be on the order of 1,000,000 hours.(100 years)
Raid-1 does not protect you from other types of losses such as viruses,
software errors,raid controller failure, operator error, or fire...etc.
For that, you need EXTERNAL backup.
If you have external backup, and can afford some recovery time, then you don't need raid-1.

Since you are planning on external backup, I think I would go for a single 1tb drive. It will be faster and cheaper.

I would consider a good SSD for the OS and frequently used applications. It takes about 15gb for Windows 7, so plan the rest accordingly.

Instead of using a USB attached external backup, I use a mobile rack for backup like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817993031&cm_re=mobile_rack-_-17-993-031-_-Product

It has a power switch which I leave off unless I am doing a backup. I get full sata speeds. The tray is removeable, but I don't think it is suitable for frequent changes/

 

[MichaelP]

Thanks for the input. The New Egg link doesn't work. Could you post the name of the rack again?
Thank You

 

[geofelt]

Thanks for the input. The New Egg link doesn't work. Could you post the name of the rack again?
Thank You

Strange.. the link works for me.


SNT SNT-125B Black 3.5" SATA Hard drive to 5.25" Bay SATA Mobile Rack Removable Hard drive kit - Retail $13.49

Search for mobile rack. I liked this one because it has a power switch.

 

[MichaelP]

Best answer selected by MichaelP.