To RAID or not to RAID

Spiff1 · 28. Dezember 2014

Hi,
i'm currently moving from Zyxel NSA325 with two 3TB Drives (JBOD) to a HP Gen8 Microserver (and want to use OMV).
I'm not sure if i should use JBOD, RAID0 or none of these...
I will use the Zyxel NAS as a backup system. So i don't need higher Raid levels.
What would you prefer?
Do you think i can just move my disks (JBOD) from the Zyxel NAS to the new microserver?

Thanks in advance
Spiff1
PS: Merry christnmas and a happy new year!

KM0201 · 28. Dezember 2014

If you're only using two drives (thus, raid1)... I would not use raid. I used raid1 for a while, and due to some issues w/ my motherboard, was having constant issues with it. I switched back to JBOD, and simply set up a some rsync jobs to automatically copy data from "Drive A" to "Drive B". This has proven flawless for me. I usually set the data to backup 2-3x a day, so there's a fairly narrow window when Drive B does not mirror Drive A. Drive A is the drive I use to create shared folders for services, etc.

I also like this better than raid 1 because if I accidentally delete something, it's simply a matter of syncing it back from Drive B. I do not have my jobs set to delete data automatically from Drive B.. instead, I usually log into the webUI once or twice a month, enable that feature, and then run the job manually. After it's done.. I disable the delete function again.

Edit: Also, don't forget you'll need a drive for the OS.

datadigger · 28. Dezember 2014

Maybe someone can tell how a Zyxel NAS builds and maintains a raid and if it can be detected on a non-Zyxel system, I don't know. I would just try to run the disks on the new system and see if they are detected. Have a backup and if it works, ok and if not, wipe the disks and build someting new and copy the data.

In a two-disk system with a reliable backup I would tend to a JBOD. A raid0 might be a little faster in reading and writing than a JBOD but I doubt that this makes a difference in the usability of the box.
Raid0 stripes bitwise and if one disk fails all the data is lost. A JBOD stripes "filewise" and if one disk fails the content of the other disk is still useable.

Spiff1 · 28. Dezember 2014

Hi,
thank you for your answers.
I will use one of my spare 2.5" disks as the system disk.
The microserver has got 4 bays. I will use two of them now and the others later (when needed).
Backup system will be my "old" Zyxel NAS where i will install just another disk.
Sounds like JBOD will be the way to go...
Spiff1

niceguy · 30. Dezember 2014

Wow !

@KM0201 - your way of managing data sounds like a good idea to me as well. In my home server and for most home users I think data doesn't change that dynamically anyways. So keeping one drive as primary and another as a secondary which gets rsync-ed every so often during the day should more than suffice. I think this may also have the advantage of keeping another drive spun down to keep power and noise down and may extend its life as well.

Thanks,

NG

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