Backup Software- Don’t Buy It!
Building your own backup strategy might cost a fraction of what some software tools cost and you'll have the peace of mind that comes with knowing you don't have to worry about it anymore.
In this post I will walk through a simple DIY HDD backup storage plan that should take just 15 minutes to set up. You'll be able to back up all your files, photos, and movies for less than $50 USD per year in hard drive and external storage costs which is way cheaper than buying any type of software. And if anything happens to one of these devices then a cheap replacement is all you need - not expensive software licenses or licence renewal fees.
I just finished building the same storage device for my own backup storage plan. In this article I showcase a 2 TB Seagate Barracuda HDD, but you could easily use any brand with a reasonably fast 5400 RPM speed. However, if you have to use one of those slow 5400 RPM drives then make sure it's really redundant - no need to take a chance on having one that is out of spec. I chose this particular model because it's pretty fast and has great reliability ratings. The model number is ST3000DM001 and you can buy from Amazon or Newegg (affiliate links).
You can see which brand and model I used in the photo below:
Refer to this article for detailed information on drive technologies: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/hdd-hard-drive-technology/ If you're buying a new 2 TB HDD then you'll need to buy two of these models, one to use as an OS drive and one to store your backup files. The second HDD will likely be faster than the first one so at least consider going with a 3+ TB model - that way you'll be able to keep all your operating system files on that second HDD while you back up the rest of your files on the first.
I've seen a lot of alleged "backup storage solutions" that use free backup software or some other type of cloud backup. The problem is that whatever solution you choose will expire one day (often in as little as a year) and if something goes wrong with their network then you could lose everything and have to start all over again.
So let's get started with your DIY HDD Backup Storage Plan!
This article was updated on 10/6/14 to reflect more details about the hardware and software requirements. Some other minor corrections were made to the article pertaining mainly to the section on software requirements.
The plan starts with two regular internal hard drives that you've already used to install your operating system. You'll be configuring them to work together as a RAID 1 array (using Free Software) and you'll have a total of about 2 TB to back up your files.
If you have more than 2 TB of data then I will show at the end of this article how you can scale up this approach easily by adding another pair of drives in RAID 1 mode which will effectively double your backup capacity!
This setup is really fast, really efficient, and really cheap compared to most backup software-based solutions. With this DIY HDD backup storage plan you'll have the peace of mind that comes with knowing you don't have to worry about it anymore.
I use two Western Digital Caviar Green drives in my own system, however any 2 - 4 TB drive will be fine provided it's fast enough for your operating system. If possible, try to get a 3+ TB model so you can store your operating system files on the second drive and leave more space for storing backups. The two drives I use are model # WD20EARS and model # WD20EZRX (affiliate links).
You could also choose an external USB hard drive or an external SATA2 USB3 hard drive if you wish. The only requirement is that this drive must be large enough to store your backups.
Quick Summary of Requirements:
2 internal hard drives or 2+ external hard drives (use same model) Free Software RAID controller installed in your computer OS that supports software RAID at least one free SATA port (or two free SATA ports if you're using two internal drives) at least one free USB port (or two free USB ports if you're using two external drives) Online backup service of your choice (optional but strongly recommended)
Note: Before proceeding, please read through the entire article first to make sure you understand the requirements and what will happen.
The basic idea of this DIY HDD backup storage plan is to use software RAID to combine two hard drives together so you could get better performance, the ability to scale up the amount of data you want to store, and the freedom from having to constantly buy more drives or upgrade your existing ones.
The concept is simple - If you add two or more devices in RAID 1 mode then they're all seen as one drive. So when copying files from one device to another then it only has to do a single pass over the data on each device instead of two or more passes depending on how it's configured. This means faster transfer speeds and more efficient use of the hard drive's platters.
This is best way to combine two hard drives together:
So, let's begin and get started with creating a "free RAID 1 array" that will give you three key benefits. First of all, it will make your existing 2 TB hard drives look like one 4 TB one. And if you ever decide to upgrade to another 2 TB model then you can do an easy upgrade by just replacing those two 4 TB drives with the new ones. Secondly, if for some reason one of those drives fails in the future then you can easily replace it without having to worry about paying for software licenses or renewal fees. And lastly, if you ever decide to switch to a different operating system then it's very easy to just destroy the RAID array, format the drives with a single partition, and then reinstall your new OS.
You could use this approach for more than just 2 internal hard drives - with a little preparation you could have 4 or even 8 internal hard drives configured in RAID 1 mode! Refer to this article for information on how to prepare for that: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/diy-raid-hard-drives/ The only requirement is that your RAID controller must be software based.
Conclusion
That's it! Just two internal hard drives or 2+ external hard drives configured as a software RAID 1 array. Now you have the freedom to keep your backups off-site, you have the benefit of knowing your files are safe even if your hardware fails, and the performance that combines two devices into one. For more information about software RAID check out this article: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/software-raid-vs-hardware-raid/
For a variety of reasons I strongly recommend staying away from cloud based backup services as your primary storage solution for critical data.