DHitMA: Hardware III


Never forget, always have a backup!

The below paragraphs contain links to outside websites and sources of data; we maintain that the individual must verify the links therein.

If you have already acquired a NAS, as described in DHitMA: Hardware II, you should consider next the topic of RAID: redundant array of independent disks. Utilizing RAID allows you to increase the reliability and/or speed of your data. We will not focus upon those methods of RAID that increase speed alone (like RAID-0, or striping), for the reason that we care principally about data reliability. We maintain that the reader must research their NAS OS' documentation for a full understanding of the implementation of each RAID method before attempting to implement one; additionally, the reader should refer to outside sources if the Internet is available. For most NAS OSes, the WebGUI (which can be accessed without an Internet connection: just turn your NAS on and connect to it with a computer) provides decent documentation for RAID operations. There are several implementations of RAID that can be used to make your stored data more reliable.