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RAID is not a backup: the 3-2-1 rule, honestly (chartmann1590.github.io)
submitted 2 weeks ago by to c/homelab@lemmy.ml
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What actually counts as a copy under the 3-2-1 rule, why a RAID mirror or a snapshot only protects against one kind of failure, and the one-page inventory that exposes the gaps.

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Disclosure: this is my own article (Charles Hartmann, Homelab the Right Way). Written with AI help and edited by me; the setup described is mine.

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[–] 3 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

But it feeeeels like a backup, and isn't that what really matters? In my setup I have 3 drives (2x 8Tb, 1x 14 Tb) and I finally have the opportunity to do some consolidation and not just have 3 single drives plugged into a server. Zfs, raid , a dedicated backup drive, but I'm still figuring out what the layout should be.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 child)

    Put the two 8tb in a mirrored raid so if one fails you keep your data. Use the 14tb as a backup that is left unplugged for longevity.

    That would be my recommendation which is similar to what I have (4 x 6 tb for twelve gigs of redundant storage) and a couple of 8tb drives I keep for occasional (monthly or so) archival backup.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 week ago

    Ha, it absolutely feels like one, right up until a bad sync or a fat-fingered rm hits every disk at once. With 2x8 TB plus a 14 TB, one layout people often land on is mirroring the two 8s (ZFS mirror) for live data and using the 14 TB as a separate backup target (snapshots replicated to it), plus something offsite for the stuff you can't lose. That gets you redundancy and an actual backup out of the same three drives.

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