Raid 0 and backup question

[mlankton]

I have an 2008 2.8 octo with the stock 320gb WD drive. I use an external 1tb Seagate FreeAgent to backup. I use Super Duper to backup a bootable clone. I am interested in both more storage space and faster response.

1. If I were to get another of these WD 320gb units and make a striped raid using disk utility, I would get a 640gb volume, correct?

2. Could I back up the 2 drive raid volume to my external drive just like I do now?

3. Could I restore to either a striped raid or a single drive off the backups on my external in the event that after a hardware failure I decided either to replace the bad drive or just go back to using a single drive?

4. Would a two drive raid comprised of two 8mb cache WD 320gb units perform as well or better than using just a single Samsung Spinpoint drive, which is the other option I have considered?

The WD unit is $49 shipped, and a 500gb spinpoint is $59 shipped, so cost is about the same. I just want to get the most bang for the buck out of my brokedick $50 storage upgrade, and I also want to be sure that I have a little piece of mind with my external drive backups.

Appreciate your opinions on which route is best and why. Thanks

 

[nanofrog]

1. Yes, sort of. Drive makers use 1GB = 1000, not 1024. Then figure in formatting, so usable capacity will be a bit less.

2. Yes.

3. Yes.

4. Yes.