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Forum Discussion
Backup of 4TB NAS Unit
Hi There!
We have a customer who wants to increase the capacity of his Pro6 Unit from 2x2TB (Mirrored) to 4TB (Raid6), and now the question is going to be, how do we backup this device cost effectively. I think backing up over the internet isn't going to be cost effective since we have small datacaps with large overage fees and our upload speed is only 1Mbps. I was thinking of a couple of 2 x 2TB Drives in RAID 0 in a small cheap NAS, but that doesn't seem THAT cheap, and it's not exactly super portable.
What's the most common solution these days for large capacity backups offsite?
We have a customer who wants to increase the capacity of his Pro6 Unit from 2x2TB (Mirrored) to 4TB (Raid6), and now the question is going to be, how do we backup this device cost effectively. I think backing up over the internet isn't going to be cost effective since we have small datacaps with large overage fees and our upload speed is only 1Mbps. I was thinking of a couple of 2 x 2TB Drives in RAID 0 in a small cheap NAS, but that doesn't seem THAT cheap, and it's not exactly super portable.
What's the most common solution these days for large capacity backups offsite?
3 Replies
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- My initial response is that whatever option you choose, it will have some up front costs but these will be small compared to the value of loosing the data.
The backup strategy you choose is a function of how much data gets changed on a regular basis. Any data that is historical data, needs to be quarantined into shares that can be backed up to disks in USB enclosures and taken offsite.
Warehousing data into standalone hard drives that are swapped in and out of USB enclosures is probably the cheapest method of storing large volumes of data (TB) but is prone to errors (forgetting what is backed up on what disk and the risks of handling).
The data that gets changed on a regular basis can also be backed up to disks in USB Enclosures and taken off site on a rotating basis but this is not easy to do regularly and reliably.
If the data that gets regularly updated is small (in my circumstances I look at this as being hundereds of MB per day rather than say GB per day), then it is feasible to back that up over the internet to services such as Vault/Egnyte or using Replicate (the option I use).
I am also concerned that the question of how the customer backs up their data is only being raised now that they want to double the size of their storage. This is a question that should have been addressed from before the Pro6 was purchased. Remember RAID is not a substitute for a backup, but rather a means to reduce the losses due to a hard disk failure and does nothing to prevent losses due to human error, flood, fire, theft.
If backing up over the internet does not provide you with a viable option and you want to reduce the risk of losses from flood and fire then look at iosafe deviceshttp://iosafe.com/ (I have never used one but the concept appeals to me). - Just to let you know the customer has a backup (2 x 2TB USB Drives Rotated offsite weekly) at the moment. The problem is that 4TB USB Drives aren't that common and increasing capacity to 4TB means wanting to ensure 4TB Backup Capacity.
Also is it ok to mix and match drives in a NAS (WD Red vs Blue) if they are in the same array (RAID6 2 x WD Red and 2 x WD Blue) so long as they are on the HCL?
Thanks. - It's O.K. to use different model drives so long as they are on the compatibility list. You need to add drives with at least as much capacity as existing drives in the array
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