Even using RAID 1 do I still need a separate backup disk on another NAS?
138599
rbohl is right. RAID 1 will give you 2 disks that are mirrored or copied and in sync byte for byte. Please use hot swappable hard drives in RAID arrays., Seagate and Western Digital (called RED model) have disks made for NAS devices. I would go as far as looking at the website for "approved" hard disks for the NAS you purchased. If one hard drive fails, the second is the backup in a RAID 1 config. The Synology will rebuild itself once the bad hard drive is replaced with a new hard drive.
138600
The short answer is yes. To elaborate, RAID isn't a backup scheme but rather a sophisticated scheme for building in fault tolerance. In RAID 1, if one of the drives goes down (assuming a 2 drive array) the NAS system can rebuild the data from the information contained on the remaining good disk. Though there is a certain "redundancy" of the information contained in a RAID array, the repository is still treated as a single source of data--if you lose the source, you lose your data. Thus RAID isn't so much a data backup strategy as it is a hardware backup strategy. Your data is kept safe by making sure the storage hardware doesn't go down. Though RAID helps with the problem of data loss, it doesn't address the issue directly. The best way to guard your data is to have multiple repositories kept in different places. For instance, on my computer I have three data drives. One is the main data drive, and I use backup software regularly to ensure the other two always mirror the first. Beyond the local drives on my computer, there's also a NAS box in the family room that I backup to. Moreover, I also have data stored in the cloud. Services like Box, DropBox, SkyDrive, Google Drive, etc. provide a useful amount of storage space for free (anywhere from 2 to 10 GB). For data you simply can't afford to lose, there's no better place to store it than on the servers of some big information technology company like Amazon. Using this scheme I can lose two or three sources of data, yet my data isn't irretrievably lost as there are yet other sources to draw from. Compare this against a stand-alone RAID array. If the array is lost in a fire, flood, or even stolen, the data is gone for good (barring some miracle). So yes, you do need a good backup plan beyond the RAID array. Hope this helps. Michael P. Herbst
138601
No I would not think so. Raid 1 means you have two identical disks with mirrored data. If one disk fails you have an identical copy on the second disk drive.
138602
Depends! Gives you the hardware fault tolerance so long as you replace the failed disk in time - with two similar disks in the same environment, if one goes the other may not be too far behind. But it also depends on location - you need off-site backup, so if your NAS is on the same desk or in the same building as your computer, you would want to take a copy to store elsewhere at whatever interval you feel comfortable with for this (hopefully) lower risk.
2098066
Only if you fully backup the drive as it will have to be reformatted for RAID. You should backup anyway as you have only one drive and stand to lose all of your data.
91779
Yes either raid 0 or raid 1 is possible. I would not recommend this product though.
1678778
Yes. You can eventually fill up to a maximum of 8 drive bays but no more after filling all 8 bays. After that, if you want, you can buy another Synology NAS of equal or larger capacity than the DS1812+ and you can back-up your original eight bay DS1812+ to your new DS1812+ .This is common practice in IT, because even awesome multi-bay servers can FRY just like all other electronic devices.
506900
Hello Edward. You definitely can. In this case you should select SHR RAID type, so you can add the other disk later. I personally would recommend you to begin with both disk, because, with them you could use SHR or RAID 1 (mirror disks) so in case of failure of one of the disks all the information will be in the other one. This is one of the main features of a RAID system that makes it a better option than an external USB disk that you should use from the very beginning.Hope it helps.
608436
It's a single disk hard drive. You could format it to have two partitions, but that won't give you physical redundancy. If you need the redundancy of a raid system you're going to have to move up to one.
1933542
Why would you need to do that? This is an array you would pop the bad drive out slap a new one in and it would rebuild the data on its own. The default is raid 1 but you can customize to your preference.
956446
Yes-set up the NAS as raid drives. Mirroring is automatic. If a drive goes bad, you replace it & it will be rebuilt automatically. Note-drives are not independent. They are part of an array.
539945
Yes. The default raid setup will need to be disabled but it's not a problem. I have 2 drives raid 1 and another 2 drives raid 0. You can create a volume on a single drive too.
1853219
I do not know the direct answer to your question.If RAID is of no importance to you, why not simply buy an external drive for supplemental storage or for backup?I use RAID for its data redundancy.If that is of no importance, why bother with a RAID enabled device?Cheaper and high quality alternatives exist.
1982101
Inside the enclosure there are two (2) independent hardisks. RAID 1 redundancy works just as expected, with one drive mirroring the other. It hasn't happened to me yet, but the literature says that in case of a crash. you simply replace the bad drive with a new one and the device will sync itself up, automatically. If the drive is under warranty, you call WD and they'll ship you a replacement drive. The case is designed so that the user can replace the drive easily. So, it's not marketing BS. It works as expected.
537756
I'm using it in a server raid 1 for data backup. I would say yes on NAS configuration. Because of the slower speed I would not use it as a drive setup to run programs from. Just for data.
382264
You shouldn't have any issues. NAS firmware will work independently from the OS. You will control the drives from the NAS UI.
723777
The answer may depend on what Operating System (OS) you are running and if you have the existing drives in a RAID array. If you have the existing drives installed as Just a Bunch Of Disks (JBOD) with individual drive letters assigned to them, then I would definitely buy a NAS specific drive (ST4000VN000) since it is physically a MUCH better drive and specifically designed as a 24/7 drive (the ST3000DM001 is NOT designed for the rigors of a RAID environment nor does it have time-limited "drop-out" features which is necessary for RAID usage). I personally have many of the older ST3000DM001 drives in use (I bought them before the NAS drives became available), and while they are OK, they tend to run at least 10 degrees hotter and have failed on a number of occasions. I use StableBit DrivePool software to create a redundant drive array similar to a RAID 1 array, but the time-limited drop-out feature is not necessary for that software to work properly. However, when I've had to replace a failed older ST3000DM001 drive, I have always bought a Seagate NAS ST4000VN000 as the replacement. IMHO, the Seagate ST4000VN000 is an excellent drive, now selling at a reasonable price, and has very good performance features. Hope that helps. The Beagle
1392670
Yes, the default is Synology Hybrid Raid (SHR) which is like RAID1 but more versatile.
1011699
If you are asking if you can set up two independent 4 drive Raid arrays the answer is yes. Whether or not the single Raid array can serve as a "hot" standby for the other I don't know but I would doubt it.
1231463
Comes with 2x2 TB drives. So, default RAID 1 would give you approximately 2 TB of usable space. This allows for one of the drives to fully fail and you lose nothing. Just have to replace the bad drive to retain redundancy.