RAID or Cloud for backup?

Raid is not backup as noted by many already. And for many home users, it is overkill to have that level of harware redundancy\fault tolerance in place.

As to cloud based backups...would not touch it with a ten foot pole. Your critical data should be backed up by you and stored away by you. Not by some external firm on some server not under your control that may or may not be secure, may or may not have reputable staff working there and may or may not be competent. I would not even consider it even in an encrypted data state.

If you are talking about a PC, then any competent backup image software will do (Acronis, Shadow Protect, Norton Ghost) backing up to external media (usb portable hard disk). If you are really paranoid, make two backups on an a regular schedule and stash one offsite in a safe deposit box. Otherwise, put it in a fire proof safe in your home (small ones cost less than $100).

I think the confusion lies within the definition of BACKUP.

When I say BACKUP, I mean that there are multiple copies of a file, so if something happens to the original, there's another copy that can take its place. This is not something that RAID can do under any circumstances. This is why people (correctly) say 'RAID is not backup' - it can not ever help you if files are accidentally deleted, corrupted, overwritten, lost, etc.

What RAID does provide is protection against a disk failure. If a single drive dies in a RAID, then you do not lose the data within the array (assuming you replace the failed drive before another one fails). This is not exactly 'backup' since it only protects against one type of loss (disk failure), but to be fair that IS the most catastrophic loss, so a good one to protect against.

As far as Cloud backup - I've been using it for a long time (Dropbox, Box, Skydrive, etc) and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. It's fast, easy, free & your files are accessible from anywhere. However, I would NOT recommend it as your ONLY method - you should still have two LOCAL physical copies (one live copy on your computer & one backup copy on whatever local media). This is just in case you can't get to the internet for whatever reason but still need your files.

This is the dumbest argument. RAID, by itself, is not backup, just like Cloud, by itself, is not backup, just like ANYTHING, by itself, is not backup, by definition. But yes, any of those can be used as backup when combined with other storage mediums.

wonders if anyone else sees the irony in us redundantly stating that RAID is not a backup.

RAID is NOT backup!

Ahhhh. Haven't said in quite a while on this forum. LOL

Quote from Mavtech : RAID is NOT backup! Ahhhh. Haven't said in quite a while on this forum. LOL

I'm glad that I don't have to search your previous posts to link to.

it's not a dead horse if the question is still being asked..

Quote from slapshot136 : it's not a dead horse if the question is still being asked..

Can I help it that there seems to be an endless supply of live horses waiting to be bludgeon to death and beyond?

Quote from DC : Can I help it that there seems to be an endless supply of live horses waiting to be bludgeon to death and beyond?

Maybe we can find a beef supplier to help us with our horse problem.

Quote from FlashX83 : Maybe we can find a beef supplier to help us with our horse problem.

I work someplace where we use the crap out of our high end HD arrays. Drives go bad all the time and yes you can lose files on a RAID array!!!!!. I have had this happen! Plus if your house burns down the cloud stuff will still be there.