Raid Options

[docyak]

What factors should one consider when trying to choose a raid option? I plan on getting a 4bay qnap nas to replace google drive, photos, do some plex and back up my computers and phone and cant figure out which one to choose.

[ed]

When choosing a RAID option for your new 4-bay QNAP NAS, several factors come into play, especially considering your varied needs, including replacing Google Drive, managing photos, using Plex, and backing up your computers and phone. The key factors to consider include data redundancy, performance, capacity, and your specific use cases.

For data redundancy and protection, RAID 1 or RAID 5 are good starting points. RAID 1 mirrors data across two drives, providing excellent redundancy but at the cost of halving your total storage capacity. This option is ideal if data protection is your primary concern and you are okay with less storage capacity. RAID 5, on the other hand, distributes data and parity across three or more drives, offering a balance between data protection and storage efficiency. It can tolerate the failure of one drive without data loss and offers better read speeds due to striping, which is beneficial for media streaming and backups.

For performance, RAID 10 (a combination of RAID 1 and RAID 0) offers high read and write speeds and redundancy but requires at least four drives and halves your storage capacity, similar to RAID 1. This option is ideal for demanding tasks like video editing or high-performance Plex streaming.

Regarding capacity, RAID 5 or RAID 6 might be more suitable as they offer a good balance between storage efficiency and redundancy. RAID 6 requires a minimum of four drives and can tolerate the failure of two drives, providing higher redundancy at the expense of slightly reduced write performance compared to RAID 5.

Given your use cases:

Google Drive and Photos Replacement: Prioritize data protection and ample storage. RAID 5 or RAID 6 can provide the necessary redundancy and capacity.
Plex: If you plan to stream high-definition content, RAID 5 or RAID 10 would be preferable for the read performance benefits.
Backups: Ensure that your RAID configuration has redundancy to protect your data in case of drive failure. RAID 5, RAID 6, or RAID 10 are suitable choices here.