Raid-0 BackUp question

[gromit137]

Or any RAID backup for that matter. Be patient ... I'm new at this.

I have two 1TB Lacie triple interface drives... for video editing...was going to use one for raw footage... then the other for completed edited video.

Ok, so raid0 separates info into blocks for video speed performance on large files...but no backup safety... but if I back up this RAID drive to a normal non-raid external drive ...say a Maxtor 500gb.... how will I restore the info 'blocks' properly to the separate raid disks enclosed in the Lacie Raid drive ... a new one since the old one failed... if the old one failed. Is this making sense? Do I need to backup to another 2disk raid external unit..and how will it know the separation of blocks on the original drive? I guess to summarize... since a RAID external drive does things differently... how do you back it up...the info has been allocated differently....no?

Thanks in advance

While I'm here... a guy told me to use firewire to (raw footage) computer ...usb2.0 from (completed, edited) computer... to avoid firewire 'clog'. Is this true? If so, which would you use for which? Firewire for 'to'... usb for 'from'?? Or reverse.

 

[DelJo63]

since a RAID external drive does things differently... how do you back it up...the info has been allocated differently....no?

NO There are multiple LAYERS of 'abstracted' data. Each layer shown here goes from the most abstract (the application) to the most specific (sectors on the raw media)

[COLOR="Blue"]application[/COLOR]
  [COLOR="blue"]records[/COLOR]
     [B]filesystem[/B]
        clusters
           blocks
              [COLOR="Red"]sectors[/COLOR]
                 hd raw media

The RAID-X filesystem is an alternative to the normal NTFS filesystem.
The Application has no idea of what a filesystem is let alone
how to actually read/write the sectors

Than said, any backup program is just another Application when it is creating the backup --
it reads input and writes to the selected backup media
(which may be located (sometimes) anywhere -- even over the Internet).

When performing a Restore, the backup program reads the media and writes
to the Filesystem logical sectors (not physical !)
The RAID-X filesystem will then 'do what is appropriate'

YOUR problem with 2x tb disks as a stripped raid-0 is to have a large enough target media to hold the backup.
While backups 'may be compressed', getting to a 50% compression ratio to hold 2tb on one
backup device is not likely. You will need a backup program which can support swapping
media during the backup and resort operations.

 

[captaincranky]

You're sort of working toward a situation where the ideal solution is to have 2 small system drives in RAID 0 and the 2 1TB units in RAID 1. As Jobeard points out storage capacity would be diminished.

Data compression never seems like a good idea, that's an IMHO. take it for what its worth. You lose quite enough just reopening a video file to re-edit.

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". RAID 1 and RAID 0 together seem like a bird in each hand, the best possible scenario, again IMHO.

 

[gromit137]

So just to clear up here...

...first of all... thanks for all the help.

So are you both saying I should use two 1TB RAID drives set to '0' ... one for source raw video, the other for completed edited video. (will one be enough for both?) (will the RAID '0' striped thingy really be faster...using a powerful laptop with firewire connection?).

...Then... I should use two separate drives set to '1' ... mirror...identical backup in real time to backup the info??

Yes? No?

Thanks so much again.
Mike

 

[DelJo63]

raid 1+0 is a Mirror over a Striped set; would required 2 HDs for the Stripes + 2 for the Mirror.

A Mirror IS NOT A BACKUP, so you still need a backup system.

IMO; Raid-0 is no appropriate for home use; it's intended for server systems.

Your issue is to get sufficient backup capacity so as to enable a full backup of your Raid-0.