RAID Knowledge Refresh Needed

Globalksp wrote:

Questions:

There's no way to "import" the RAID 1 setup from the previous enclosure, correct? This new enclosure uses a new chipset, etc.

If the RAID was managed and controlled by the hardware, then you should not be able to just move those drives to another RAID enclosure of a different manufacturer. Sometimes you cannot move those drives to another different model enclosure of the same manufacturer. Installing drives from a hardware RAID into anything else but the exact same model enclosure is extremely risky as it will likely break the RAID. I'm not aware of any way to import/export a hardware RAID configuration (at least not from any external hardware RAID boxes I've seen).

2. When I tell the Oyen to create a RAID 1, will all current data on the drives be erased?

Yes.

3. If #2=yes, then I must transfer all the data from the RTX to the Oyen after the Oyen has created it's RAID array and erased the current data, correct?

Yes.

FYI, I really don't like using a hardware RAID because of the issues that happen when the RAID enclosure fails especially when the product is no longer supported by the manufacturer. Most of the hardware RAID enclosures our organization has used have been less than stellar plus those enclosures usually only allow for very specific model of drives (including certain sizes). I much prefer using a software RAID these days (enable JBOD on the enclosure) since you can easily access the data using other enclosures if the original enclosure fails or becomes outdated.

Depending on your needs and workload you may want to consider a network RAID (NAS) such as Synology. Synology uses a Linux OS and a software RAID to provide networked access to the shared files.

Always make sure to have frequent and regular backups of all your external media including your RAID enclosure or NAS since RAID is not a substitute for a backup. RAID1/5/6 only allows you to possibly continue accessing the data in the RAID when a drive failure occurs. With the huge drives that exist now even a RAID1/5 setup is not ideal since you could encounter a second drive failure before the RAID finishes rebuilding from the first drive failure.

We exclusively use hardware RAID for performance and not required software loaded on the computer. Never had issues, and I'm going back decades. I have two Promise RAID towers, an R6 and an R8. Our servers are all hardware RAID. We have drives fail occasionally which is to be expected, but never the controller. So that's just my experience.

In your particularly situation, I presume if you care at all about data redundancy, you'll configure your systems as RAID1 (Mirroring). RAID0 will certainly double your bandwidth, but you're rolling dice on losing all your data if one of the drives fail. JOBD is pointless.

RAID5 is my preference and has never failed me. It's a good balance between performance and reliability.

If you're trying to move your hard drives from one enclosure to another, you'll most likely lose your data. Many RAID systems will realize a drive change has occurred and its internal table of drives installed will have change so any "new" drive inserted will be treated as a drive requiring initialization.

Are you retiring your CRU enclosures and going exclusively with the Mobius tower?

DeeperDiver wrote:

We exclusively use hardware RAID for performance and not required software loaded on the computer. Never had issues, and I'm going back decades.

Performance is one advantage of a hardware RAID.

I have two Promise RAID towers, an R6 and an R8.

While we had a couple of rack mount Promise RAID units that were reliable, but the OP appeared to be referencing desktop RAID enclosures. My experience with desktop RAID enclosures is very bad including the Promise Pegasus units which I personally think are outright junk (both the hardware and the proprietary app needed to manage the enclosure).

Our servers are all hardware RAID. We have drives fail occasionally which is to be expected, but never the controller. So that's just my experience.

Servers are a different matter and are usually of much better quality than desktop RAID enclosures. Also people using these servers already have methods in place for migrating to new hardware when it is time to replace old hardware.

JOBD is pointless.

It is not pointless if you want to leverage the enclosure to use software RAID. In fact it is mandatory which is why I mentioned it in the first place. Just trying to give the OP options.

Also I don't recommend using a software RAID to mirror two independent USB/Firewire/Thunderbolt drives as the RAID will usually break. It is less likely for a macOS software RAID to break when used on drives contained within a single enclosure, but you should still plan for this occurrence as I know it has occurred for us on a software RAID1 mirror on two internal drives within the older MacPro towers. macOS software RAID is a bit more unstable than a Linux software RAID in my experience.

RAID5 is my preference and has never failed me. It's a good balance between performance and reliability.

RAID6 is the better option these days if you have the choice in case a second drive fails before the first drive finishes rebuilding since drive sizes are so large today.

Promise being "junk" is definitely your opinion, not fact. I've been using Promise towers for almost 10 years, and that was on advice of other colleagues using the same towers. Zero issues. Have you personally used them? These are desktop RAID enclosures as they are Thunderbolt-only. It is not a NAS server.