Hello,
First, I apologize if these questions are in other parts of the forum I have searched and found some answers but I still have some questions. I also apologize for the number of questions I am a beginner and truly am interested in learning.
Second, some background. I am relatively new to Apple products. I purchased my iMac late 2012 21.5 in late 2012. And I love it! I am a photographer using Lightroom and Photoshop CC. Today I have my internal HD (5400RPM?) 1TB Time Machine backed up to a 3TB Seagate Back Up Plus via USB3. I am quite amazed my 1TB internal drive is getting so full already! I store and edit my images in raw so they are somewhat large files.
Here is what I am thinking about and where I can use some guidance. I would like to store my image files on a RAID EHD and my apps/programs/LR catalog on the internal HD. Some questions:
1. Through my research (much of it on this forum) I have my selection narrowed down to 2 EHD (I think?):
a. LaCie 2Big 6TB TBT 2 with HW RAID
b. Caldigit T3 6TB TBT 2 SW RAID
2. Here is what I see about these arrays and I am hoping you can lend some advice/guidance:
a. I hear HW RAID is better/more stable than SW RAID is this true in a 2 or 3 bay unit?
b. Seems LaCie gets better reviews and price is a little lower but the Caldigit is 3 bays. A co-worker highly recommends the LaCie as well.
c. I would set this up in RAID 1 with mirrored bay 1 and 2. For Caldigit I would use bay 3 as my time machine back up for the internal HD
d. What are your thoughts/comparisons between these 2 units?
e. What are your thoughts on longevity of these 2 arrays? As my needs grow will I be able to continue to purchase drive/trays from these companies?
3. I read on this forum where some have a mirrored RAID 1 array and still back up via Time Machine this array. Is this only for double security? IE: if I run the LaCie in RAID 1 then I will have the 2 copies for sure and if one drive fails I can swap out quickly correct?
4. If speed becomes an issue, can I later run LaCie 2Big in RAID 0 and purchase a LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 2 6TB to back up the 2Big?
5. If so, is the best way to run this back up via Time Machine? IE: Can Time Machine back up 2 different drives?
6. Can I expect to see faster speeds running either the LaCie 2Big or Caldigit T3 in RAID 1 then my current internal HD? I believe my late 2012 iMac has a 5400RPM drive but only TBT 1 input? So even though these arrays have TBT 2 my connection into the iMac will be TBT 1 will this be faster than my internal drive?
7. Does the LaCie D2 take the same drive/trays as the 2Big? IE: are they interchangeable?
8. If I purchase an additional drive/tray, can I hot swap the backup/mirrored drive to keep one off site? If yes, I assume then somehow once I install the other drive into the array it will sync with the bay 1?
Again sorry for the length here . I am finding all this quite interesting.
Thanks,
Sincerely,
Joseph
First, I apologize if these questions are in other parts of the forum I have searched and found some answers but I still have some questions. I also apologize for the number of questions I am a beginner and truly am interested in learning.
Second, some background. I am relatively new to Apple products. I purchased my iMac late 2012 21.5 in late 2012. And I love it! I am a photographer using Lightroom and Photoshop CC. Today I have my internal HD (5400RPM?) 1TB Time Machine backed up to a 3TB Seagate Back Up Plus via USB3. I am quite amazed my 1TB internal drive is getting so full already! I store and edit my images in raw so they are somewhat large files.
Here is what I am thinking about and where I can use some guidance. I would like to store my image files on a RAID EHD and my apps/programs/LR catalog on the internal HD. Some questions:
1. Through my research (much of it on this forum) I have my selection narrowed down to 2 EHD (I think?):
a. LaCie 2Big 6TB TBT 2 with HW RAID
b. Caldigit T3 6TB TBT 2 SW RAID
2. Here is what I see about these arrays and I am hoping you can lend some advice/guidance:
a. I hear HW RAID is better/more stable than SW RAID is this true in a 2 or 3 bay unit?
b. Seems LaCie gets better reviews and price is a little lower but the Caldigit is 3 bays. A co-worker highly recommends the LaCie as well.
c. I would set this up in RAID 1 with mirrored bay 1 and 2. For Caldigit I would use bay 3 as my time machine back up for the internal HD
d. What are your thoughts/comparisons between these 2 units?
e. What are your thoughts on longevity of these 2 arrays? As my needs grow will I be able to continue to purchase drive/trays from these companies?
3. I read on this forum where some have a mirrored RAID 1 array and still back up via Time Machine this array. Is this only for double security? IE: if I run the LaCie in RAID 1 then I will have the 2 copies for sure and if one drive fails I can swap out quickly correct?
4. If speed becomes an issue, can I later run LaCie 2Big in RAID 0 and purchase a LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 2 6TB to back up the 2Big?
5. If so, is the best way to run this back up via Time Machine? IE: Can Time Machine back up 2 different drives?
6. Can I expect to see faster speeds running either the LaCie 2Big or Caldigit T3 in RAID 1 then my current internal HD? I believe my late 2012 iMac has a 5400RPM drive but only TBT 1 input? So even though these arrays have TBT 2 my connection into the iMac will be TBT 1 will this be faster than my internal drive?
7. Does the LaCie D2 take the same drive/trays as the 2Big? IE: are they interchangeable?
8. If I purchase an additional drive/tray, can I hot swap the backup/mirrored drive to keep one off site? If yes, I assume then somehow once I install the other drive into the array it will sync with the bay 1?
Again sorry for the length here . I am finding all this quite interesting.
Thanks,
Sincerely,
Joseph