Storage Help (NAS+Media Streaming+RAID+Automatic Backup)

Aloise wrote:
Although RAID6 is an option, I am not confortable with it as I am sure I'll have to get some assistance in case of HDD failure.

Why so sure? The process is very straightforward: With the NAS on, remove the failed drive and insert a new replacement. Open Frontview and follow the resync progress, reboot if/when you're told to.

Aloise wrote:
So, I'm thinking of going JBOD on it. I'd prefer to keep backing up the data on this DATA NAS to my BACKUP NAS. In case of an HDD failure on my DATA NAS, I'll have the option to swap the faulty drive and restore data from my BACKUP NAS. Sounds more simple to me...

Really?

If one or two drives in your DATA NAS fail and you have a RAID6 array, up-to-date data will remain safe and continuously available. Full restore to replacement drives is automatic. Your backup NAS isn't involved in the process at all; it can remain safely away from you and the errors that you, like all humans, make. Also, if any -- or even all -- of the drives in the BACKUP NAS fail while your DATA NAS is rebuilding, your data is still safe (and if "only" one or two of the BACKUP NAS drives failed, your data is not only safe but is also still backed up).

On the other hand... If one or two drives in your DATA NAS fail and you have a JBOD array, data from the most recent backup is safe, but it's unavailable until the restore is complete. Data newer than the most-recent backup is gone forever. Restore to a replacement drive is a manual process, and until you restore the DATA NAS drive, you'll only have one copy of your data -- on the BACKUP NAS, which you'll be manually accessing, while stressed, with filesystem commands containing wildcards.

Aloise wrote:
In addition, I'm wondering that in a JBOD setup it's equally easy to access and stream my media files in my wifi LAN.

As StephenB said, you'll have to split your media collection into drive-sized pieces. If you have a big collection, that could be awkward. Also, your streaming software would have to be able to access a collection split across multiple volumes; not all programs can do that.

Aloise wrote:
I've read that for faster I/O it would be better to install more HDDs with smaller capacity

For JBOD, that is not true. For RAID5 or RAID6, it is also not true if you're only trying to get good streaming performance over WiFi or gigabit Ethernet with modern SATA drives.