RAID for Backup

[ameerat42]

ameerat42 wrote: Ta for that useful info.

Oh, and I usually just think of "I" as individual, rather than independent (which they're not)
or inexpensive (which they're also not because there is no universal standard of "cheap").

Anyway, the main thing is that it's just supposed to be a catchy acronym, even if it has little to
do with a raid

[Kelvin Hennessy]

As a computer network support technician of over 30 years here's what I have come to rely on for my storage and backups.

1 - All my data (photos, video, personal data) is stored on a 6 terabyte hard disk on a Windows 2012 R2 server.
2 - To combat 'bitrot' (whereby data gets corrupted and then backed up without you realising it) I occasionally run a program on the server called "Fastsum" which calculates and compares file checksums. It will also pick up on accidently deleted files & folders
3 - I regularly backup the server data drive to a 4 bay Synology NAS running RAID-5
4 - The NAS gets backed up to 3 different 6 terabyte USB disks that I store in my house, which is separate to my office - giving me a certain degree of offsite backup.
5 - My most critical personal and business data & photos are syncronised to the Microsoft Cloud via OneDrive.

The most important thing to be aware of is that you do not rely on RAID as a backup system - it is vital to have another archive backup to USB or another NAS as well.

I hope that helps :-)

[ameerat42]

Thanks, it does, though your full process is beyond my immediate needs.
I have cone to understand the importance of your last sentence since starting
this thread.