I’ve just made a purchase on a My Cloud WX2 Ultra 8TB (2x4TB Drives) Unit. In the past I’ve had a Mybook Device (single Drive) that failed. The end result was that we lost all of our data. (this was some 6+ years ago)
In learning from that experience, I’d like to know what protection I have if this device fails for any reason. I gather that being a RAID device that one drive mirrors the other. However let’s say one day I’m unable to boot the device due to a HD failure, how to I recover from that?
I’d like to know where I stand before a disaster rather than after one (not that I am expecting one) but I need to learn from past mistakes and put things in place if I need to.
But the OP took the time to pose a question. . . and I think it deserves a better response.
A WD NAS, using Raid 1, is a “mirroring” device. . . .all the data on Disk 1 is also present on Disk 2. So therefore, functionally, with a 2 x 4TB = 8TB NAS, you will have 4TB of usable storage.
If a drive fails, you will see a red light on the front of the NAS, and you will see the disk status error when you log into the device dashboard. If properly configured. . you might even get an email. At that point - - - you can buy a new drive and “hot swap” the bad drive with a new drive. Hot swap is an online drive replacement without even powering down the device. Once swapped, the device will automatically copy all the date from the good drive to the new drive. . and you are back in buisness.
SO - - -this protection will guard against the most common type problem: A conventional HDD failure.
It will NOT protect you against other failures;
An error where you stupidly erase a file.
Ransomware which encrypts the entire drive (both disks)
FIRE * - the whole place burns down. . . both disks.
Lightning - where both drives fry at once.
A board failure or rouge device firmware update that essentially bricks the unit (or worse. . .corrupts both drives at once.
So to safeguard data, I do the following. (what you do is up to you. . .)
No data at all is stored on a PC (protects against some forms of ransomeware or a rogue PC update bricking the machine)
I have a primary external drive with most of my data. I can move this from one machine to another as necessary
I have a religious routine where I backup data from the external drive to the NAS. Doing this regularly is vital. Some people use software to do this automatically (I don’t trust this type of software - - -unless I test the backup files regularly. . so I don’t bother). This servers to protect against failure of either my external drive OR the NAS.
Every year or two, I “retire” my external drive. All data is copied to a brand new drive
This reduces probability of drive failure, since I don’t run disks to destruction
This creates a “safepoint” that allows me to recover ancient files in the event of a ransomware problem that encrypts my working drive (and infects my NAS) OR if I do something stupid, and delete an important file without realizing it before I do a backup to my NAS
Every once in a while. . .I backup not to the NAS, but another external drive. . .which sits in my desk at work. This protects against the fire scenario which wipes out my NAS, which usually sits only a few feet away from my external drive.
The key here is to realize that you need is “protection in depth”; and that “Common Mode” failure (like a fire) can wipe out many parts of your “kit” at once.
Certainly, using a cloud service can be part of a proper strategy. . . and while that protects you from some problems (i.e. fire); it does not protect you against other problems (user error; ransomware) and can also introduce other issues (i.e. fees; lost pass words; cooperate bankruptcy)
