Raid1 or Windows backup : what is best?

turboman

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hello

I am setting up a new PC with Windows 8 clean install. In the past, I used an external drive for backup, but I was not systematic and disciplined enough. The human factor.

So this time with a new PC I wanted to do better.
I will have a 128GB SSD for system and programs, and then I will use 2TB WD 20EFRX for data and backup.

I see two possibilities:

System A:
I setup the 2 WD20EFRX (2TB each) in a RAID1. That provides the mirroring of the data. Then at regular intervals, or at least after a system change or program install, I will make an image of the SSD and store the image on the WD's.
I have an Asus P8Z77-V motherboard with Z77 chipset that supports RAID.

System B:
The 2TB are not setup in RAID but used as normal AHCI hardisks. I will use disk1 for data storage and use the Windows 8 backup features and disk2 for the backup.

Which of the 2 systems would you recommend? I am not an expert and prefer uncomplicated setups, but I know how to make the RAID1 on this system.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 PRO 64bit
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3570
    Motherboard
    Asus P8Z77-V
    Memory
    2 x 4GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600-CL9
    Hard Drives
    SSD Samsung 840PRO 128Gb
    WD 2 x 20EFRX
    PSU
    Seasonic Platinum 660W
    Case
    Lian Li PC-7HXB
    Cooling
    Corsair H80i
    Keyboard
    Logitech 750r
    Mouse
    Logitech Anywhere MX
Raid is not a backup. If you do something stupid, it will happen to both drives at same time. If machine is stolen, both drives go with it. If your house burns to ground, raid won't protect you.

Raid provides redundancy, but is not a backup.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
hello pparks1, molebo
Tanks for the answers.

Ideally I would do a backup on a separate drive every day and store it in a different house. But that is the ideal unrealistic world.
Does anyone do it?
I had a separate drive in the past, and I did not do the backup (several drives in the house, not disciplined etc...)

So having 2 drives in the PC makes it more likely that I do the backup.
Having a RAID, it is done automatically. But if I delete something and empty the recycle bin, then it is gone.
If I have two drives in the PC, maybe I forget to do the backup. Or is that done automatically?

I know myself, and with a separate drive, there is a high probability that I do not do it.
Anyone in the same situation. For my situation, what would be better: A or B?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 PRO 64bit
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3570
    Motherboard
    Asus P8Z77-V
    Memory
    2 x 4GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600-CL9
    Hard Drives
    SSD Samsung 840PRO 128Gb
    WD 2 x 20EFRX
    PSU
    Seasonic Platinum 660W
    Case
    Lian Li PC-7HXB
    Cooling
    Corsair H80i
    Keyboard
    Logitech 750r
    Mouse
    Logitech Anywhere MX
I keep a pair of drives off-site. Bring them home about once a month and use robocopy to quickly sync them.

I use acronis backup to back up my server data more frequently within my house.

Remember with raid 1, if you get a virus and it wipes out files, it would happen instantly to both drives. Raid 1 mirrors are best for servers to store the OS, so the box keeps running if a drive were to fail.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
I would probably go with Windows 8's Storage Spaces feature. The main feature I like about it over RAID 1 is that you can connect external hard drives and use a RAID 1 like redundancy setup. It's easier to maintain in general.

If you prefer internal hard drives over external, I'd still do Storage Spaces as it's much easier to increase the size of the storage space over RAID.

One must also do backups of vital data. I recently lost a 500 gig hard drive that I was going to start doing backups of until it died. Completely dead. That scarred me to the point where I might actually consider doing tape backups or something, gee... More likely than anything, I probably do a clone of my future SSD, along with backing up my documents, pictures, and music onto a smaller 2.5" hard drive externally, as well as using SkyDrive. Backup for the backup to the backup.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
Tape backup is probably not required. Use something like robocopy with an external hard drive. With the MIR switch, robocopy only copies changes. Plug in your drive, rub robocopy and within minutes it is likely done. Take your drive off-site (work, parents house, girlfriends house, storage facility, etc). This way if you have a catastrophic failure, you will only be out the changes since you last synchronized.

I keep two external drives off-site, just in case the external cannot be read or data was damaged on one copy. When 2tb drives were only $79, this was a no brainer. I just use a thermaltake external esata dock. Copies at nearly 85MB a sec.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
What I would do is put those large capacity drives in an older PC with 2GB of RAM and run Windows Home Server (WHS) v1 runs on 32bit CPU's and WHS 2011 requires a 64bit CPU. The OS costs $50 and you will have a system that backs your PC's up and you can set the server up to duplicate the data on two different physical drives so if a drive fails, you don't lose any data. Since the drives are formatted as NTFS, if the server fails, you can retrieve the data directly from the drives using a Windows PC. This is what I do at home and for small clients since the WHS will support a max of 10 PC's.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10 Pro 64bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built Intel i7-3770k-based system
    CPU
    Intel i7-3770k, Overclocked to 4.6GHz (46x100) with Corsair H110i GT cooler
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 OC Formula 2.30 BIOS
    Memory
    32GB DDR3 2133 Corsair Vengeance Pro
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce GTX 980ti SC ACS 6GB DDR5 by EVGA
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD, Corsair SP2500 speakers and subwoofer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG 27EA33 [Monitor] (27.2"vis) HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (system drive)
    WD 6TB Red NAS hard drives x 2 in Storage Spaces (redundancy)
    PSU
    Corsair 750ax fully modular power supply with sleeved cables
    Case
    Corsair Air 540 with 7 x 140mm fans on front, rear and top panels
    Cooling
    Corsair H110i GT liquid cooled CPU with 4 x 140" Corsair SP "push-pull" and 3 x 140mm fans
    Keyboard
    Thermaltake Poseidon Z illuminated keyboard
    Mouse
    Corsair M65 wired
    Internet Speed
    85MBps DSL
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, MalwareBytes Pro and CCleaner Pro
    Other Info
    Client of Windows Server 2012 R2 10 PC's, laptops and smartphones on the WLAN.

    1GBps Ethernet ports
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