Which RAID system do you use with your Mac?

I didn't see a computer or Mac forum anywhere so I'll just post here and hope that some of the computer guys chime in.

I have a 27" i7 iMac with a 2TB internal drive.

I don't want to rely on cloning software or Apple's Time Machine for my backup and so I'm now exploring the world or RAID.

I'd want to keep this simple and not get into all the banter and technical disputes/discussions that go on in the computer forums.

Please give me some input and recommendations for RAID 1 systems that are reliable but not more expensive than it needs to be.

MOST of the data I'm backing up is photos. Other data and files just don't add up that quickly so this is mostly for backing up some personal/business data, my Lightroom libraries and the images, and the iTunes library of music and movies (not films, just short tech tutorials, etc.).

RAID 1 = two (or more) drives, mirroring each other. You don't need any specific system.. Just use two hard drives in your mac.

http://docs.info.apple​.com …lity/10.5/en/du​h1013.html

Did you mean external RAID solutions, kinda like this?

http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6822101091

I guess I've never considered an external RAID solution since (for me) the biggest risk of failure for my external USB drive is getting dropped, knocked over, or physically damaged. Adding another drive to the same device doesn't mitigate that risk. I'd buy two external USB drives, with one network enabled (or NAS), and one to plug into my computer. Then I'd have the USB drive connected to my computer backup to the networked USB/NAS drive in another part of the house.

Even with all of that, I'd still burn the important stuff to DVD and keep it off-site, in case of a fire, etc..

Hi Rob,

I use to use a basic external Raid 1 Mirror systems but have been using the base level Drobo for a couple of years now. Simple, easy to install and expandable. Not the cheapest but does work well and reliably. I also use crashplan as my offsite backup but am looking at Amazon S3 as my data storage needs have grown.

Cheers

Shane

Hi Brandon,

The iMac has one internal drive and no bays or user access so upgrades.
There are many external RAID systems available. I understand about the hardware and software and how it all works.

I'd like to get some recommendations for external RAID 1 systems. I'm seeing a wide range of prices and many manufacturers are putting their name on the front.

I figured that some of the computer geeks here might know which enclosures are using which drives and perhaps know what to stay away from or what is getting good reviews.

I looked at RAID 0 but I think RAID 1 makes more sense. If someone knows otherwise please tell me.

plusnq wrote in post #11801031
Hi Rob,

I use to use a basic external Raid 1 Mirror systems but have been using the base level Drobo for a couple of years now. Simple, easy to install and expandable. Not the cheapest but does work well and reliably. I also use crashplan as my offsite backup but am looking at Amazon S3 as my data storage needs have grown.

Cheers

Shane

Hi Shane,

This is interesting. Thanks for chiming in.
I've been very interested in the Drobo but I was concerned that it didn't work as well or efficiently as RAID 1. The newest version of Drobo can connect via Firewire 800 I believe. The original was USB and then USB 2.0 and that didn't seem to make sense.

My questions about Drobo...

Does it mirror the internal drive in real time? Does it use processor power and slow down or affect performance of the machine when it's working.

I know that with Time Machine it really brings my older 20" iMac to a grinding halt when it's copying files. Is Drobo processor intensive?

Hi Rob,

I use FW800 to connect the Drobo. It is fine for itunes or video playback.

My imaging/video editing workflow is to copy files to my MAC and Drobo and then edit on my MAC. I keep each client as a separate folder and catalogue within Lightroom. I backup using Chronosync rather than TimeMachine but the Drobo is happy with time machine as I understand it..

The Drobo has no overhead but the FW800 can pause momentarily when editing large files via the Drobo which is why I edit each project on the MAC and have it backup to the Drobo. This issue is due to the speed of the FW800 rather than the Drobo and all direct attached storage systems perhaps with the exception of USB 3.0 (not yet on the MAC) or gigabit ethernet have the same issue. There are issues with the different speeds of an external bus such as USB or FW vs the much higher speeds of the internal SATA bus. The different speeds can lead to file corruption issues with real time backup.

I am not a fan of real time mirroring as if one file is corrupted or accidentally, then both copies of that file are corrupted or deleted. I prefer to lose an hour of work (scheduling hourly backups) rather than all my data.

My backup needs are fairly large with over 3 Tb of data at the moment. I found that external single and dual disk systems couldn't keep pace with the data growth and moved to the Drobo and been quite happy.

Cheers

Shane

That all makes sense, Shane.

So, when working on files that are on the Mac, performance doesn't suffer or cause the machine to act sluggish?

Is the Drobo right out of the box set up for real time backups? I'm still not clear whether it works that way or whether you have run a backup program or utility.

Rob,
I run a backup program, Chronosync. I have sent a PM detailing my workflow.

Cheers

Shane

plusnq wrote in post #11804339
Rob,
I run a backup program, Chronosync. I have sent a PM detailing my workflow.

Cheers

Shane

Does that mean that the Drobo is not working like a RAID system that is backing up in real time? Is there any way to configure the Drobo to work that way?

I don't use a RAID, I use a plain old cloning backup. RAID, and all that complexities and expenses that come with it, is not really necessary unless you can't afford one second of downtime. So RAIDs are priceless for servers, but for normal business or home users I don't think it's justifiable.

A RAID 1 continuously mirrors all the drives so they are all updated at all times. If one goes out, the next drive is used instead. Sounds great...but remember something has to manage the RAID in the first place. That would be the RAID card. That's another point of failure. If the card goes, so does the RAID. It happened at my work once and caused a big headache, and now we don't use RAIDs as much.

So, to save myself money and some possible trouble, I just clone my hard drive. SuperDuper and CarbonCopyCloner can both do this on a schedule (you have to pay for SD though). If the main drive goes, just boot off the backup.

toxic wrote in post #11804802
I don't use a RAID, I use a plain old cloning backup. RAID, and all that complexities and expenses that come with it, is not really necessary unless you can't afford one second of downtime. So RAIDs are priceless for servers, but for normal business or home users I don't think it's justifiable.

A RAID 1 continuously mirrors all the drives so they are all updated at all times. If one goes out, the next drive is used instead. Sounds great...but remember something has to manage the RAID in the first place. That would be the RAID card. That's another point of failure. If the card goes, so does the RAID. It happened at my work once and caused a big headache, and now we don't use RAIDs as much.

So, to save myself money and some possible trouble, I just clone my hard drive. SuperDuper and CarbonCopyCloner can both do this on a schedule (you have to pay for SD though). If the main drive goes, just boot off the backup.

Good points toxic........ until your data storage requirement is larger than your hard drive. Then you have either multiple drives and the headaches that entails, or have to buy into a larger storage system as I did. Depends on your needs. I forgot to add that in addition to my Drobo and Cloud storage, I have each year backed up on a an external hard drive stored offsite. Anyone remember Andy Groves?

Cheers

Shane

Raid is not a replacement for backup, and never has been. Raid is for availability. If you care about your data you should back it up to a (preferably) offsite location.

Virus/computer error eats a file? Raid is useless.
Accidentally delete file? Raid is useless.
Computer burns in house fire? Raid is useless.
Computer dies, taking raid away with it? Raid is useless.
Hard drive dies before you have a backup created? Raid is relevant.
Can't be offline for an hour or two? Raid is relevant.

Thanks guys,

This is proving to be interesting and educational.

So I might as well get something like the Drobo and just continue running Time Machine and perhaps and a separate drive that I run Carbon Copy Cloner for a bootable backup?

My concern in using a backup program is how it will affect performance.

!Sp1207! .. I second that; I had a 1.5TB RAID 1 unit which my son managed to knock over. Both drives are toast - one good thing about the RAID is I have 2 chances to save the data vs 1 HD to mess around with or send for recovery.

TMR Design wrote in post #11805024
Thanks guys,

This is proving to be interesting and educational.

So I might as well get something like the Drobo and just continue running Time Machine and perhaps and a separate drive that I run Carbon Copy Cloner for a bootable backup?

My concern in using a backup program is how it will affect performance.

Backup software and RAID are two different things, as said above.

Working from a RAID external device will be too slow. Therefore, your RAID device will be for backup (although you could also use it as a media server if it's a NAS).
To backup, you will need dedicated software, such as Time Machine. You can set it up so that it synchronizes when you're not working on your iMac.

To sum it up:
- you edit your images locally from you internal hard drive.
- you back up your data on your RAID device using a(ny) backup software, e.g. TM

By the way, I use a Synology NAS RAID device (in RAID 1) and it's great. You can also use it as a DLNA server (to stream content on your TV), iTunes server, and even file server accessible through the Internet.