timemachine and raid type

[Enquiries]

I just got a a ds916 and would like to set up for mac timemachine. Is there a raid type where I can back up across different drives where if one drive fails I don't loose all data? Or do I have to use SHR with redundnacy and having to use twice as many drives? Duplicating everything? I would also. like to be able to add more drives as my data grows. Note my schime involves also backing up to as separate system with the shr and redundancy but not the history and role back element of timemachine. Also with the NAS and its error checking would I be warned if one of the drives was dying if I opted for a system with the data striped across all drives?

thanks for your help. what would. you suggest

[ed]

Thanks for reaching out! Setting up your Synology DS916 for Time Machine backups is a great choice, and I’d be happy to help.

For your requirements, you have a couple of options:

RAID 1: This configuration mirrors your data across two drives. If one drive fails, your data remains safe on the other. However, this setup requires at least two drives, and you only get the capacity of one.

RAID 5: This setup requires a minimum of three drives and provides both redundancy and better storage efficiency. It allows you to lose one drive without losing data, as the remaining drives will retain the information. This option also maximizes your storage capacity compared to RAID 1.

Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR): This is a flexible RAID option that allows you to start with different drive sizes and add more drives as needed. SHR with redundancy is similar to RAID 5, allowing for one drive failure without data loss. While SHR is user-friendly, it does require using multiple drives to ensure redundancy.

Regarding your concern about error checking, Synology NAS devices are equipped with monitoring tools that can alert you if one of the drives is failing, regardless of the RAID configuration. If you choose to use a system where data is striped across all drives (like RAID 0), you would not have redundancy, and the failure of one drive would result in total data loss. Therefore, I recommend using RAID 1 or RAID 5/SHR for the safety of your data.

Since you want to back up to a separate system while maintaining the Time Machine functionality, a setup with RAID 5 or SHR would allow you to expand your storage as your data grows, providing a balance between redundancy and capacity.