Consider building AdviceRaid or sticking with hardware?
Consider building AdviceRaid or sticking with hardware?
Aomei Backupper could be the top free option now that Macrium is shifting away from free versions. I'm uncertain about its potential restrictions, but it might be worth considering if you prefer to avoid paying 80 for Macrium.
If you're looking for an alternative backup method:
I own a 2-bay NAS, but the drives aren't set up in RAID1.
I lack a full data copy on my primary machine because I don’t see it as efficient use of its storage capacity.
One of the NAS drives serves as the main storage, where I regularly transfer updates to
Every week:
I rely on
FreeFileSync
to move data from my main computer to the NAS.
The NAS then applies new data from the staging drive to the other drive.
It subsequently sends updates from the staging drive to my cloud provider.
These actions occur roughly every 24 hours, as I don’t anticipate delays that would disrupt this schedule.
I also have an external drive connected to the NAS occasionally for backups.
This setup gives me at least three data copies: two on separate physical devices and one stored off-site (the cloud).
I avoid creating system images since my OS installation process is streamlined—allowing a full restart within an hour if needed. I simply memorize the configuration settings for apps that are notoriously tricky to set up, and copying them back works reliably.