What I am trying to accomplish with the RAID is being able to work with video footage, hence the need of a RAID, and work with it in terms of editing and the sort...nothing more....
Actually, if this is the type of work you're doing, simple stripe sets (RAID 0) may not be that good of an idea (no redundancy at all, and the risk of failure is n* that of a single disk; so a 3 disk stripe set is 3x more likely to fail than a single disk
).
Absolutely the case if you're earning a living from your efforts.
As for the HD's your suggestion is exactly what I needed. So Western Digital is the way to go and also I shall stick to them since I dunno want to find myself caught unto a fail drive in the future...specially if I am getting the drives in parallel of the RAID enclosure and not with them....guaranty reasons and the sort that if bought in conjunction is applicable...and since it is not the case, I better get the best hardrives in order to avoid future trouble.
Now if you're going to end up in a proper RAID configuration (i.e. separate hardware RAID card), this gets more complicated, as not all disks are the same.
Meaning that such cards require the use of RAID Edition HDD's, as the recover timings stored in the firmware are different from the consumer models. Can't change this either. These drives also have additional sensors in them to prevent damage from vibration the consumer models are lacking.
So you have to be very careful with what you're doing.
Now I just have to determine if I want a redundant RAID whenever I put the drives in or a 0 RAID...Speaking to some customer service folks at OWC yesterday, they suggested I would do a RAID with 3 of the drives and make the 4th drive a backup drive in case of failure....in the case I got from them their suggested 4 bay enclosure.
Sounds like they were trying to get you to use RAID 5.
I strongly suggest you do some research on RAID, including the levels (start with Wiki's RAID page, and follow the links for additional information). Then search here in MR, and read at least a few of the detailed RAID threads (I usually post in them). Long and detailed, but the details are critical. Tons of valuable information, so be prepared to put in the time, as RAID isn't something you're going to properly understand in a few minutes (basic concept is easy, but the realities of implementing it properly are another matter).
If you're earning a living with your output, I can't suggest strongly enough you go for a proper card and run a redundant array, as well as a proper backup system (not just the hardware, but scheduling/procedures set in place that insure it's kept up with properly so you're not totally screwed when something goes wrong).
