RAID or Cloud for backup?

I've been planning to put a RAID together for a couple years now and keep putting it off because of the time and effort involved.

However, now there are great offsite cloud-based backup options like CrashPlan that give you unlimited backup for a low price.

Is there any reason to use a RAID for backup these days when online backup is so inexpensive? It seems like an obvious choice. Am I missing something?

The only advantage I can see to RAID is ability to restore data faster if you have a failure. And technically the RAID will be cheaper after several years assuming no hard drives ever fail (a terrible assumption). Offsite online backup is a no brainer, right?

Quote from uscpsycho : I've been planning to put a RAID together for a couple years now and keep putting it off because of the time and effort involved. However, now there are great offsite cloud-based backup options like CrashPlan that give you unlimited backup for a low price. Is there any reason to use a RAID for backup these days when online backup is so inexpensive? It seems like an obvious choice. Am I missing something? The only advantage I can see to RAID is ability to restore data faster if you have a failure. And technically the RAID will be cheaper after several years assuming no hard drives ever fail (a terrible assumption). Offsite online backup is a no brainer, right?

Please know that RAID technology is NOT a form of backup. It's a form of disaster recovery and method to provide QoS, but not a backup plan. Nothing wrong with having a bit of both.

cloud.

RAID is a form to increase redundancy and higher I/O throughput performance, it has nothing to do with backup.

It has the advantage of minimizing down-time in case a drive failure occurs during business hours (the machine still have to be taken off-line for data rebuilding later). To achieve real zero down-time you will have to have a failover cluster.

Backup allows you to retrieve data in case the original (working data set) gets corrupted or deleted unintentionally. Once those two things (corrupted data and accidental deletion) happen to your raid and you don't have a backup copy, the damage is done and there is no way to recover the data.

The 3-2-1 rule [40tech.com] should be sufficient for home and small business data backup purpose.

Raid can also get you in trouble at home if your hardware fails trying to rebuild it can be difficult or impossible if using hardware raid. Just keep your files on a 2nd disc at home and use the cloud you will be fine, the cloud also allows for access from remote locations.

RAID doesn't not comply with the "keep one copy offsite" rule.

I would only do cloud backup if it was encrypted from the source. That being said, you should be aware that many cloud backup services that I've seen won't allow you to directly restore all your data back to your computer over the Internet. If the data is large enough you would likely have to pay them to get your data back on a hard drive that they physically ship to you. Just read the terms!!!

NEITHER (By themselves)....

Blu Ray or DVD/CD (Tape)

Then Cloud
Then Harddrive

You should have THREE different backups on different technology.

Optical satisfies READ ONLY and easy off-site rotations.
Disadvantage... small by comparison. Time consuming to make.

Cloud satisfies off-site and ease of access... make sure to encrypt
Dissadvatage.. out of your hands. Cost.

Hard Drives are great for fast recovery... make sure to keep backup drive offline.until needed (unhooked from computer) Great for Imaging.
Disadvantage..they fail

If you don't have THREE copies (At least one off-site) of your data you are no truly backing up. Only back up what can't be replaced.

RAID is not backup. May offer redundancy but certainly not a backup component. Data can get hosed in RAID.

Quote from boltman2007 : NEITHER (By themselves).... Blu Ray or DVD/CD (Tape) Then Cloud Then Harddrive You should have THREE different backups on different technology. Optical satisfies READ ONLY and easy off-site rotations. Disadvantage... small by comparison. Time consuming to make. Cloud satisfies off-site and ease of access... make sure to encrypt Dissadvatage.. out of your hands. Cost. Hard Drives are great for fast recovery... make sure to keep backup drive offline.until needed (unhooked from computer) Great for Imaging. Disadvantage..they fail If you don't have THREE copies (At least one off-site) of your data you are no truly backing up. Only back up what can't be replaced. RAID is not backup. May offer redundancy but certainly not a backup component. Data can get hosed in RAID.

LOL the point of raid is backup - If a disk gets hosed then you can recover the data.

If you backup to DVD, remember regular DVD's degrade over 10-20 years. You can buy archive grade DVD's, they are expensive but are guaranteed up to maybe 50 years. I wouldn't really recommend DVD's

Cloud is nice because it is offsite, you can pay only for what you use, but I don't like subscription based services, and cloud companies can also screw up and delete your data accidentally.

There is nothing wrong with RAID as backup, you can manage it yourself, it can be cheaper, you can make copies of drives and store them at a family member's house for off-site backup and then rotate drives every once in a while. You need to buy drives that are under warranty for 5 years, and replace them when the warranty period is up.

Quote from B9FYwspP8J85 : LOL the point of raid is backup - If a disk gets hosed then you can recover the data. If you backup to DVD, remember regular DVD's degrade over 10-20 years. You can buy archive grade DVD's, they are expensive but are guaranteed up to maybe 50 years. I wouldn't really recommend DVD's Cloud is nice because it is offsite, you can pay only for what you use, but I don't like subscription based services, and cloud companies can also screw up and delete your data accidentally. There is nothing wrong with RAID as backup, you can manage it yourself, it can be cheaper, you can make copies of drives and store them at a family member's house for off-site backup and then rotate drives every once in a while. You need to buy drives that are under warranty for 5 years, and replace them when the warranty period is up.

The definition of "backup" means you have more than one copies of data. Not the data storage media (ex. hard drives). The advantage of keeping a backup over only using RAID is that if you accidentally lose (ex. delete, move, got stolen) data from the original copy, you have a "backup" copy to retrieve those precious data from. Since there is only one copy of data on RAID, there is no way to retrieve the data if they get lost.

So no, raid is not a backup solution by definition.

Quote from teetee1 : The definition of "backup" means you have more than one copies of data. Not the data storage media (ex. hard drives). The advantage of keeping a backup over only using RAID is that if you accidentally lose (ex. delete, move, got stolen) data from the original copy, you have a "backup" copy to retrieve those precious data from. Since there is only one copy of data on RAID, there is no way to retrieve the data if they get lost. So no, raid is not a backup solution by definition.

A RAID mirror has more than one copy, but obviously doesn't protect against user error or possible data corruption, and you could use RAID as the backup, i.e., second copy. So I think you mean to say that RAID by itself is not a backup solution.

I would say cloud as well as other forms. Raids are nice and all, but theft or a house fire will still cause you to lose everything.

Quote from B9FYwspP8J85 : LOL the point of raid is backup - If a disk gets hosed then you can recover the data. If you backup to DVD, remember regular DVD's degrade over 10-20 years. You can buy archive grade DVD's, they are expensive but are guaranteed up to maybe 50 years. I wouldn't really recommend DVD's Cloud is nice because it is offsite, you can pay only for what you use, but I don't like subscription based services, and cloud companies can also screw up and delete your data accidentally. There is nothing wrong with RAID as backup, you can manage it yourself, it can be cheaper, you can make copies of drives and store them at a family member's house for off-site backup and then rotate drives every once in a while. You need to buy drives that are under warranty for 5 years, and replace them when the warranty period is up.

Sure hope you don't make decisions for a company LOL.

RAID IS NOT BACKUP...in fact only some forms of RAID provide any redundancy at all.

RAID can help or hinder depends on implementation and if its hardware or software based. RAID does nothing to prevent virus or corruption.
People who "think" RAID is backup are being lazy and fooling themselves.

Quote from B9FYwspP8J85 : LOL the point of raid is backup - If a disk gets hosed then you can recover the data.

Oh honey child you're talking of two separate things. backup for starters (and a wrong assessment at that) then data recovery. Some times those can be one and the same, but not for RAID.