05-19-2023, 02:53 PM
Yes, it is possible to use two bays for RAID and two bays as individual drives. With the DS418, you can configure the RAID setup using Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR), which allows for flexibility in mixing different drive sizes while providing data redundancy. You can set up a RAID configuration (such as RAID 1) with two drives for your important projects and podcast backups, while using the other two bays as separate drives for your personal files and backups. This way, you can have the desired redundancy for critical data and the convenience of individual drives for other purposes. Additionally, using Synology's Hyper Backup software would be a suitable choice for backing up your data, enabling you to access it remotely when needed. If you decide to use non-NAS drives, please keep in mind that they may not be optimized for continuous operation in a NAS environment, so it's generally recommended to use NAS-specific drives for better reliability.