Should I split a big (8TB) backup disk into more than one partition, or not?

[Karl Auer]

On Sat, 2020-09-19 at 22:23 -0400, SDA wrote:
> On Sun, Sep 20, 2020 at 08:45:22AM +1000, Karl Auer wrote:
> > So use error correction (like RAID) or have backups. Multiple
> > backups.
> > 
> > Regards, K.
> 
> Karl, what type of RAID would you recommend, say for 3 separate
> drives?
> 

It's horses for courses; different types of RAID have different
characteristics. Google "types of RAID".

RAID0 stripes the data across two (or more) drives, but has no error
correction and no redundancy.

RAID1 just mirrors one or more drives (all drives have the same data on
them). Redundancy, but no error correction.

RAID10 is very popular in small systems: It's one or more sets of
mirrored drived (RAID1) with the data striped across the sets.
Redundancy, but still no error correction.

For error correction to need RAID5 or RAID6, whicg stripes the data
across three or more drives, with error correction data distributed
(and duplicated) across the drives. This offers redundancy and error
correction. A RAID5 or RAID6 can repair itself if you have a hot spare
installed.

RAID6 stores more error correction data that RAID5 and is recommended
for very large arrays.

You pay a speed penalty for any error correction, especially on write.

There are some other types, but they are not generally used, or are
used in niche situations. RAID4, for example, stripes across n-1 disks
and stores all the error correction data on one disk.

But it's a truism that RAID is not a backup. You  still need backups.

Regards, K.

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karl Auer (kauer at biplane.com.au)
http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer

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