DAS for 2.5 ssd and NVME

[Enquiries]

Hi there, long time listener, first time writer!

Over the past 2-3 years, I've accumulated storage in different sizes and formats, 11TB in total:
- Two Crucial MX500 4TB 3D NAND SATA 2,5
- One Crucial P3 Plus 2TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2
- One DELL 2230 M.2 SSD 1TB PCI Express NVMe

My primary use case is backups (photo/documents, at 2TB right now), and my dream scenario would be to combine all of these drives into 1 enclosure, set up a Raid1 or Raid5 and use it only when I need to do backups.

I saw your reviews of the Terramaster D5 and D8 and thought "this is it" but I wonder if there's a better solution for combining these drives and if possible not to rely on my win/mac machines for setting up raid?
Or would it make more sense to break these up into two enclosures, one for the two 2.5" ssds and one for the two NVMEs?

Thank you, and thanks for all the helpful videos and write-ups!

Francis

[ed]

Thanks for reaching out! It's great to hear you've been following along for a while. With the drives you've accumulated, you have quite a bit of flexibility for backup and storage setups.

The Terramaster D5 or D8 could indeed work well for you, especially if you want a single enclosure for all your drives. However, the challenge with mixing different formats (SATA SSDs and NVMe SSDs) in a single RAID setup is that the speeds and performance could be uneven, particularly if you're using RAID configurations like RAID1 or RAID5. RAID generally works best when all drives are the same size and type, so mixing SSDs and NVMe SSDs in one RAID array could result in bottlenecks and inefficient use of the faster NVMe drives.

Here are a couple of options to consider:

Dedicated Enclosures for Each Type of Drive:

This would allow you to optimize performance. You could have one enclosure for your two 2.5" SATA SSDs in RAID1 or RAID5, and another for the two NVMe drives (potentially in RAID0 for speed or RAID1 for redundancy). This setup would avoid performance mismatches, and you'd have better control over the drives' capabilities.
Standalone NAS:

If you'd rather avoid relying on your Windows/Mac machines, you could look into a NAS solution that supports both SATA and NVMe drives. Many NAS units allow for mixed storage types and can handle RAID configurations through their internal software, removing the need for your computer to be involved. A small NAS setup could potentially fit within your $500 budget, and it would provide easier management and accessibility for backups.
External M.2 Enclosures:

If you want something portable but still independent of your computers, you could consider individual M.2 NVMe and SATA enclosures that can be connected via USB or Thunderbolt, allowing you to back up without dealing with a full NAS setup.
Considering your budget, breaking them into two enclosures or going with a small NAS may be the most practical option. However, if you prefer something simpler, a multi-drive enclosure like the Terramaster D5 with a focus on either the 2.5" SSDs or NVMe drives might be a good fit.