RAID 1 or manual backup or something else?

[rbrian]

I'm ripping my DVDs, so far 1.5TB and growing. At the moment all that data is on a single 3TB external drive. If that drive dies, I still have the original DVDs, but it will take months to replace the data. At some point I'll probably end up with a NAS or JBOD, but as a stop-gap I've ordered another 3TB external drive. Can I create a RAID 1 configuration without destroying the data on the original drive? Would I be better off using Time Machine or something to back it up?

 

[reebzor]

Can I create a RAID 1 configuration without destroying the data on the original drive? Would I be better off using Time Machine or something to back it up?

Typical RAID Disclaimer: RAID is not backup. RAID is redundancy, protection against drive failure. You are likely more interested in a backup solution than a redundancy solution.

To answer your first question- No, creating any raid array will destroy the data on both drives. Plus, you really wouldn't want to RAID externals either.

Best option IMHO- use Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! or something similar to maintain your new 3TB drive as a backup to your old one. Schedule the backup to run every night, archive deleted/overwritten files, etc. There are tons more options to play around with.

I use CCC to backup my 10TB RAID5 array.

 

[rbrian]

Thanks for the reply. A scheduled backup seems like the best plan. I've just heard that Carbon Copy Cloner is no longer free - what does it offer over Time Machine to make it worth paying for?

 

[reebzor]

Thanks for the reply. A scheduled backup seems like the best plan. I've just heard that Carbon Copy Cloner is no longer free - what does it offer over Time Machine to make it worth paying for?

Wow $40! I have (I guess an older) free version of it. It offers a lot more features and customization, but I don't know if it's worth $40. It really is just a front end GUI for rsync...

I backup my 10TB RAID5 to 5 external hard drives, Time Machine would not allow this, but it's not really an issue for you. CCC gives me the option to actually schedule the jobs to run, which is kind of necessary when you have so much data. Time Machine just runs once, every hour, and at that rate I would pretty much be constantly running the tasks. It also gives you options for how you want to maintain the backups. If something gets deleted from my source, CCC moves the copy on my destination to a separate "Archive" folder, where it will remain for X days or until it needs the space. You can get much more specific about which files/folders you want to include/exclude. I also have CCC set to send me an email upon job completion with a job summary. It's just overall nicer than Time Machine.

Not that Time Machine is bad, I actually love it and use it to back up the boot drives on all my Macs. CCC is more geared toward "Power Users". It's up to you if it's worth the money, they do offer a 30 day trial and I think you should give it a shot. I might actually consider ponying up the $40 for the new version anyway.

 

[kobyh15]

Say I move my iTunes library to an external drive for music/movies because it's getting too large for my internal SSD. What would be the best way to go about backing up the whole setup? Raid 1 with iTunes external + separate Time Machine backup of whole system, running CCC copying iTunes external + Time Machine backup of whole setup, something else? Thanks for the help!

 

[MCAsan]

I keep my large libraries (iTunes, Lightoom catalog, etc) on Lacie thunderbolt drives. In Time Machine I made sure all drives (internal SSD, external Lacie) are backed up to my Time Capsule.

 

[HazyCloud]

I keep my large libraries (iTunes, Lightoom catalog, etc) on Lacie thunderbolt drives. In Time Machine I made sure all drives (internal SSD, external Lacie) are backed up to my Time Capsule.

Same here. My iTunes library is on an external that gets backed up to a Time Capsule. And since one backup is none, I also have my Mac and external backing up online with Crashplan+. Well worth the 49.99 a year for peace of mind.

 

[WesCole]

You might look into CrashPlan+ or a similar cloud service. I pay $5/month for unlimited cloud backups (you can get it cheaper if you buy it by the year). It takes a long time to upload everything the first time, but then it only backs up changes. This was the easiest way I found to keep my media safe...I don't have to worry about hard drives dying and such.

Edit: Looks like the person above me beat me to the CrashPlan idea.

 

[rbrian]

I'd thought about that too, and I probably will eventually. I'm going to move house in about 6 months (when my new house is built), and hopefully I'll be able to get fibre broadband there - as it is, I won't even have finished the initial upload by the time I move. I've also seen some poor reviews of online services, so I'd prefer to have my own backup too - apart from anything else, how long will it take to download 1.5TB? Of course, all this is moot since the hard drive I ordered from Zavvi looks suspiciously like hair straighteners...

 

[From A Buick 8]

I am toying with the idea of some sort of cloud backup as my "off-site" plan.

Currently i have my iMac backing up to an external drive (using Time Machine). I have all of my movies, music and TV shows on a DROBO.

I have a drive bay and a couple times a month i slap a 2TB drive in there and let CCC clone my hard drive on my iMac and then i use two other 2TB drives to create a backup for my DROBO.

I just had the hard drive replaced on the iMac (free from Apple) and i used Time Machine get back up and running, and i have to say it was pretty sweet.

 

[flynz4]

I'd thought about that too, and I probably will eventually. I'm going to move house in about 6 months (when my new house is built), and hopefully I'll be able to get fibre broadband there - as it is, I won't even have finished the initial upload by the time I move. I've also seen some poor reviews of online services, so I'd prefer to have my own backup too - apart from anything else, how long will it take to download 1.5TB? Of course, all this is moot since the hard drive I ordered from Zavvi looks suspiciously like hair straighteners...

There is no reason to wait for your move to start backing up to the cloud. It will pick up where it left off once you move.

I personally forced my most important data to back up first... but controlling what data was included in the backup source.

Documents: backed up almost immediately (less than a day)
Photos: it took a week or so... but then I was relieved since it is by far my most important data
Home camcorder movies: I cant remember... maybe another week
Music: Who cares. It is all replaceable
Video: Even less important than music... who cares how long it takes

One thing I did do was make a manual copy of 100% of my media when I started the backup... and stored it in my desk at work.

/Jim