Hardware RAID 5, or RAID 0 and backup to Drobo?

[David Gagne]

I’d shoot for hardware raid. $300 is cheap. You might consider using a SSD for C: and then have 4 drive slots available for your RAID… Throw in 4 nice drives and you’ll get some good speeds.

[Norman Willis]

OK, I bought it.

Now we will see : )

Norman

[Bob Zelin]

David of course is correct. Hardware raid – no Drobo. You have limited budget – backup to a cheap SATA drive in a “toaster” for 39 bucks. No need to buy the Drobo.

Bob Zelin

[David Gagne]

We have a couple Drobo’s. They’re super slow, but great for large backups. Redundancy built in means I don’t ever have to cry over a broke disk. But make sure you solidify the rest of your workflow first…

I really think you should consider SSD for C: instead of wasting 2 drive slots on it.

[Norman Willis]

>> I really think you should consider SSD for C: instead of wasting 2 drive slots on it.

Thanks David, I appreciate that. However, right now the need is to ensure 100% uptime on the air for the new internet radio show. How can I get redundancy if I do not use two slots?

Right now the need is to take the redundancy load off my Core2Quad, so I can also get decent performance under Vegas.

Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org

[David Gagne]

I don’t have a huge amount of experience with SSD, but from what I know they don’t fail. And when they do, they fail to write, not read. Why go this route? So you can do a 4-drive Raid5. More space, more performance.

But it’s totally up to you, I understand it might be too risky…

[Norman Willis]

>> I don’t have a huge amount of experience with SSD, but from what I know they don’t fail.

Dude, where do you think the term “bricking” comes from?

Just Google “SSD failure”, and see what you come up with. (Or just read the reviews at Newegg.)

For giggles I could put all five drives in Hardware RAID 5 and then partition out a C:\ and a D:\…but I’ll probably stick with the old school technique (and make two physical arrays).

Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org

[Walter Soyka]

[Norman Willis] “However, right now the need is to ensure 100% uptime on the air for the new internet radio show. How can I get redundancy if I do not use two slots?”

It’s good that you’re looking at redundant technologies for your system, but you cannot ensure 100% uptime in 2011 on commodity hardware. Having your system in RAID 1 will only offer you limited protection against a very specific fault. What if your power supply fails? Or RAM? Or a simple software glitch? What if someone doing construction outside jackhammers through your broadband line?

With any luck, none of these things will happen — but any of them could. Live events require a healthy appetite for risk, and/or backup plans which you hope you will never use.

It sounds like you’re already thinking these issues through. Good luck with your new project!

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Norman Willis]

>> It’s good that you’re looking at redundant technologies for your system, but you cannot ensure 100% uptime in 2011 on commodity hardware. Having your system in RAID 1 will only offer you limited protection against a very specific fault.

Yeah, good point. I guess I just want to do what little I can to minimize the likelihood of hardware failure on my end. But you are definitely right, the whole pipeline is a source of risk, and I am not in a position to control that.

>> Live events require a healthy appetite for risk, and/or backup plans which you hope you will never use.

Yeah, I also want to load the thing on my laptop (and backup), so I can “take the show on the road”….

Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org

[Norman Willis]

>> For giggles I could put all five drives in Hardware RAID 5 and then partition out a C:\ and a D:\….

Actually, the more I think about it, harware RAID 5 is supposed to be almost as fast as RAID 0; so would a logical C:\ partition on a 5-disk RAID 5 array give me more speed on C:\ than having C:\ in a simple two-disk RAID 1?

I can backup D:\ to the Drobo (even though, yeah, it takes forever on USB2) … but how would I make a backup image of a virtual C:\ on a 5-disk RAID 5 array? Acronis?

Is a five disk RAID 5 an intelligent option? Or is it just safer and easier to stick with a RAID 1 C:\ on two disks, and a RAID 5 D:\ on three disks?

Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org