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Need help with raid 5 + back up config

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I'm setting up a raid 5 array with 4 disks and want a back up on 1 disk. Have a couple questions/concerns that I'll point out below one by one :) 

1.) I want to use x4 750GB 7200rpm 2.5" drives (thinking seagates or WD blacks) loaded on my 4 Sata II ports on a AS Rock extreme6 Mobo.

- will the mobo raid controller handle that raid level + a back up okay?
- are those hard drives going to be okay? they were selected for speed and size so they did not affect incoming air flow into the computer case (switch 810)

2.) I would like to either use an internal or external 3TB drive to back up my entire system (the 2.25TB raid array as well as my SSD boot drive)

- considering a WD Green intelli drive in hopes that the lower speed will help keep heat levels of the incoming air down, as I believe the 7200rpm drives are going to be a little toasty.
- is there software that will handle back-ups for the array and my boot SSD to the single drive or is that a raid configuration option?
- is this type of drive (considering the intelli power saving features) optiomal considering what I'm asking of the drive.

I'm sure other people are going to suggest other set-up's but I'm pretty set on at least building a raid 5 array + a back up in some way shape or form. if my mobo can't handle raid 5 that's a different story but that's why I'm here on toms today =)

thanks all!

Mike

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Raid 5 is listed as supported on that board.

Do not try to use the WD black drives in a raid set using parity. They will not work properly. If you want to use WD drive you will need the RE or the red line of drives. The seagate will probably work fine.

There are lots of software options for backing up the raid set to the external drive. It likely would not be a real time backup, but more of a nightly just in case backup. If you are really concerned about the data use a cloud backup option like crashplan. Which you can also use crashplan for free to do the backup from the raid set to the external. I would think a WD green drive would be reasonable as the external backup.

I'm looking seagate momentus drives and see they have a 1TB 5400rpm drie and a 750 7200rpm drive and I'm having a tough time deciding.

on the one hand going with the 1TB drives are going to give me 750GB more space, run my system cooler b/c the drives sit right infront of my intake fan but run 5400rpm slower in my 4 disk raid 5 array.

on the other hand the 750GB drives will put me at 2.25TB of space, run the system warmer b/c they'd put off more heat but run at a total speed of 21,200rpm...

so I'm wondering if I'll notice a difference between the 1TB array running at 16,200rpm vs the 750GB array running at 21,600... will I have a bottleneck b/c of my 3Gb/s SATA II ports I'm using?

both drives are the same price so it's the facts that are going to decide this one for me... I can really live with or without that extra 750GB of space

The 7200 set would be a good deal faster then the 5400 rpm set. Without knowing what you intend to use the storage for it's difficult to say if that would matter or not.

I don't think you would be able to hit the 3Gb/s limit on either of those sets.
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I'm recording gameplay with fraps and will soon be working towards video editing before uploading to youtube (need a faster internet connection or something, 1st video took 3 days to upload and never finished processing!! shesh!)

If you're going to be using Abobe Premiere Pro CS5-6 then you are going to want to build a RAID 0 for your project files to work from. It's what they suggest as best practice. I've posted about it several times already, but am too lazy to go find it and copy/paste right now :/ 

I think you should also switch to a RAID 60 setup as well - (or a RAID 50)

here's a look at backup software - http://data-backup-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

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here's a great chart to reference for RAID levels - http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/eserver/v1r2/i...

Well here is what I'm thinking about after the tread and some poking around

x4 seagate momentus 750GB 7200rpm 2.5" drives (price just dropped $15)
x1 Wester Digital 3TB 5400rpm 3.5" drive to back up
Storage Expert

Well, i still have a problem with your setup. As far as i got it, you need all the four intel ports for your raid5. Do you really want to run your windows from, the raid5? Then get ready for very disappointing performance! We are talking about a total software raid, running all the parity math on your CPU. Combined with the laptop disks this will be really slow. And keep in mind, that you need a spare disk, in case one of the others breaks. It's very difficult to restore a raid5 with a different disk, especially with those proprietary intel drivers.

There are things lots of users missed on MOBO raid, that is too many IRQ from drives send to CPU, they takes CPU time, but not CPU power's therefore your raid slow and you can even know why.. because to see the amount of IRQs been send, you need a custom software to see it.

This is WHY decent server NEVER use MOBO raid :-)

But with 3~4 drives RAID5, I dont think would be that bad... but certainly HW RAID raid would be much more efficient. Cuz it minimize the IRQ sending to CPU.

You can try this HW RAID SMP393 controller here - which I use over 20's for my clients.

Amazone is pretty cool - if you dont like it return it for full refund, not like NewEgg charge me 15% restock fee very return item.
Try it you will like it
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