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In Reply to: RE: THIS IS NO JOKE!!!!!! posted by Mercman on June 29, 2012 at 08:09:01
Sorry you had this problem. I hope you have backups.
There are problems with some RAID systems, involving combinations of software crashes, hardware failures, etc. I would not suggest using RAID for an audio library without a thorough investigation. And I would not count the RAID capability in my backup count. I have three copies of my library, the on-line one in my PC, an off-line version off site, and a third copy on a NAS that I only use for backups and is powered down during the daytime. The NAS has a RAID capability and a careful reading of the company forum showed that those users who were competent at system management didn't have data reliability problems. Every month I do a complete surface scan of every drive in the RAID array and examine the SMART statistics to see if a disk is becoming unreliable. IMO, no one should be using a RAID system unless they understand what I am talking about.
RAID systems are like twin-engine aircraft. They give better data reliability in theory, but in practice there are lots of new chances for cockpit error. Typically what happens is that one drive goes bad, and the RAID system starts its recovery and rebuild process. With large disks this means many hours (days) worth of heavy disk activity, which puts lots of stress on the remaining disk drives. In many cases this results in another drive failing and some RAID systems then trash all the data. At this point if there is no backup one may be forced to pay huge fees to a data recovery company. If one looks at their price lists, one will see that recovering data from a RAID array is quite expensive. In the past there have been problem with some RAID hardware enclosures whereby mechanical difficulties resulted in drives dropping on/off line and provoking these problems. There were also timing problems with some green drives and firmware problems with some drives (e.g. certain models of Seagate 1.5 TB drives) and these drives would work fine in regular PC applications, but trash all the data if used in a RAID array. It is important to ensure that the specific drives used in a RAID array have been verified and tested as working in that system. This may not be a problem when buying a new system that comes packaged with drives, but it will definitely be a concern on any upgrading.
Tony Lauck
"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar
Follow Ups:
The only reason I purchased this drive was for 8TB of capacity. Sure, I could use 2 4TB drives, but this is what I wanted. The drive is run in RAID 0. This is the backup drive for my Pegasus.
I do understand why others would take an alternate route.
long does it take you to listen and or sieve thru 8TB of music files?
Yes, that makes sense. Actually that's why I have a RAID NAS, so that I could have 4.5 TB of capacity a few years ago when the largest drives were only 1.5 TB. It was getting to be a PITA partitioning and repartitioning my files. As soon as I am convinced that the 3 or 4 TB drives are reliable and the price comes down I plan on doing a swap of all of my drives in my audio workstation and NAS and rotate the old drives into off-line storage duty or possibly the junk yard.
Note that Raid 0 means that you lose twice as much data each time a disk drive does fail. Not a big problem with redundant backups, however.
Tony Lauck
"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar
Another thing to consider. If the Pegasus craps out, I can just pop in the G-Tech for music. If both die, a minor inconvenience as I have the orignal files on other drives. If the house burns down, a highly possible scenario here in San Diego, I'll have bigger issues than my music collection to worry about.
The only true usefulness of a RAID system involves situations where downtime due to the failure of a single drive would result in more than just inconvenience. These are situations for businesses, hospitals and similar entities with mission-critical operations that must function 24/7.
A home music server hardly qualifies.
The problem is that a RAID, as used in home situations, leaves a number of areas unprotected. Failure of the controller circuit can delete data on all the drives. Hacking or viruses can affect both sets of data. Operator error can delete or modify data. Operating system or program bugs can affect data. A power surge or loss would affect all the drives in a similar manner.
In short, a RAID only guards against the mechanical or electrical failure of a single drive. It assumes all the other parts are working perfectly and that you have sufficient IT knowledge to manage the system appropriately. Most home users lack that ability, regardless of what their ego tells them.
RAIDs are a lot of extra complication and work for virtually no extra security in the home environment. It is a far better use of time and money to just keep extra copies, including one off-premises.
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