Am I correct that a WD 4TB My Cloud EX2 Ultra NAS has 2 2TB drives and in order to get 4TB of storage, I give up backup capability? If I want 4TB of storage with 100% backup, I must purchase an 8TB EX2?
Basically correct.
Raid 0 – - - Data “stripped” across both drives; for fast response. Either drive dies - - > all data gone.
- Capacity: 2TB + 2TB = 4TB
Raid 1 - - - Data mirrored on the two drives. One drive dies - - → All data lives on other drive. Life is
good.
- Capacity 2TB on two identical drives = 2 TB
JBOD- – - Just a Bunch Of Disks - - - Both drives appear as distinct drives in your network. One drive dies - - > You lose all the data on that drive. The other drive will be fine.
- Capacity 2TB on one drive, 2TB on other drive - 4 TB
By default, an EX2 will be configured for Raid 1 (2TB) out of the box. Flick of a button (which results in a data wipe) to switch configuration.
Note: No such thing as 100% backup.
- A “box” with Raid 1 only protects you against “drive failure” - - - call it 98% effective. (because there are ways a single bad drive will goober everything).
- Raid 1 will not protect against “box failure”. If the box goes. . .you are looking at some form of data recover.
- Want to improve your odds regarding data protection? Make a backup on another physical device. Now you only have to worry about things like “Fire”, Flood and “Theft”.
- Want to step it up? Take your physical backup, and move it to another state.
- Want to step it up? Consider cloud storage. Cloud storage is only one method of backup. See what happens if you miss a payment. Or if lose the password. Or if the company decides it doesn’t want to store data anymore (looking at you google)
What do I do as super paranoid?
- Day-to-day data lives on a few 1TB SSD’s
- Regular backup to a NAS
- Regular backkup to an external drive in my house (Drive periodically “shelved” as an “archive”)
- Not regular backup to an external drive that is stored in another house.
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