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Looking for backup device advice
I'm thinking about the best way to backup my ReadyNAS NV+ (SPARC). Currently I have four 1TB drives that I'm not using at the moment. What I'd like to do is find a four disk box that I can configure to use all four drives in a non-redundant volume so I can get the maximum amount of storage out of those drives. I would then use this box as backup for the ReadyNAS that is serving as my NAS server in my home. Is there such a box? If not, does anyone have a suggestion for the best way I can use those 1TB drives to backup as much of my ReadyNAS as possible?
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- You already have one such box - why not buy a second?
sphardy wrote: You already have one such box - why not buy a second?
Ah, I see that I can configure the NV+ volume as RAID 0 so there is no redundancy. That does seem like a reasonable suggestion, thanks. Is it possible to use the front USB backup support on the NV+ to backup from one NV+ to another?wfiveash wrote: Is it possible to use the front USB backup support on the NV+ to backup from one NV+ to another?
No. The ReadyNAS cannot act as a USB drive. You would simply add the 2nd ReadyNAS to the network (in the same fashion as your existing ReadyNAS is configured) and then backup across the network from one NAS to the other NAS.- Remember that with a single RAID-0 volume across all disks, if one disk fails all data is lost. It would be better to have 4xRAID-0 volumes (one on each disk) so that if one disk fails only the volume utilising that disk is lost. It would require organising your backups to have less than 1TB go to each volume but would give you better protection from data loss.
Take a look at Configuring Your ReadyNAS for Flex-RAID - My thinking was that this device is going to backup an existing ReadyNAS that is using X-Raid so I'm not so concerned about the reliability of the backup device as it will not be continuously running.
- That choice is up to you. Disks can and do fail at any time. Turning the NAS off doesn't guarantee that the drives will last longer.
- I appreciate your advice as you've given me something to think about. Seems like the choices come down to convenience (one big volume makes the backup easier) or higher reliability (multiple volumes to backup to which minimizes loss if one fails but makes backup more difficult). Given I intend to backup once a month and take the backup nv+ to my office when not backing up I think this should provide reasonable reliability using one big volume as I'd be able to tell if a drive has failed in the backup nv+. If that happens I'll just replace the drive and do another full backup.
- I got a new NV+, configured it as RAID 0 and am now using rsync to backup my primary NV+ to the new unit. This appears to be a decent solution for me since I already had nice drives that I wasn't using and the new NV+ only cost me about $270 from newegg. Thanks to those who respond to my initial question.
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