N3200 as backup device

[thecusvhb]

Hi,
I want to use an N3200 as backup-device. The device should be configured with 3 HD's in RAID1. Every day I would make a backup of our server (with Symantec Backup Exec) to the N3200. The owner would take one of the three HD's out of the N3200, and take ik home with him, al they do now with the tape-backup. The next day, he plugs the HD back in. Normally, the N3200 should do an automatich synchronisation of the HD.
Is this possible?
Is the N3200 mechanical stong enough to take an HD out every day?
Thanks.

[wiz]

how are you going to get 3 disks in raid1 working? Raid1 = mirrored stripe so you need an even amount of disks.

So you could do this with 2 disks. But I doubt if it will work in the long run as in case of a rebuild this can take a long while depending on disk size, and I don't think disks are designed to be thrown around or carried around without a case or some sort of protection.

[thecusvhb]

RAID1 is mirroring, RAID0 is striping.
With RAID1, all disks in the RAID-config. contain the same data.
So, in theory, the databackup could work. But as we all know, there is a big difference between theory and practice.
Anyone else who can help me?

[ccomley]

I really don't think this is a good idea.

The NAS as a target for a Backup Exec backup is slow - way slower than tape. You may find it can't *do* a full backup in the available overnight time.

Swapping raw disks in and out as part of a daily backup? It can only end in tears.

Get a tape drive for your main backup. Failing that, use DAS - eSata or firewire, or even USB2 if you must. And don't dismount the disks - buy enough units to swap the whole unit out each day/week.


If you want to use NAS as a secondary backup, it's fine, use something like SecondCopy to sync the relevant parts of the server to it. But it's not designed as a primary backup target.