can i just ask some advice from anyone with regards to "raiding"??
I think i wanna have 1tb storage over two drives via raid 1. is that a pretty good way of safely storing 1tb of data?
RAID is good for keeping data safe in case you have a drive failure. It is never a true backup in itself.
If the data is also stored elsewhere - backing up your laptop for example, then thats fine. If not, you still need another backup of the data on your NAS, just in case the NAS should be in a fire, or be stolen, or even if the RAID controller decides to play up.
Always remember to backup any data on your NAS onto a re-moveable storage media if you can - external HDDs, and so on.
For example, I will use my NAS to store my movies, images, documents, home movie clips, and so on. I also have an external 4TB drive which I will connect directly to the NAS via eSATA to backup my most important data, and then keep this external disk round my parents house.
On the other hand, if you backup the files on your laptop, via Time Machine for example, if the NAS fails at least you still have a copy of the data on your laptop to use, so creating a backup of the NAS itself isnt as important.
Although RAID covers you should a drive fail, it shouldnt be seen as a complete backup solution. In most cases, it is a single drive that fails, so you can continue to access your data and just replace the drive itself, but always cover yourself with your most important data, just in case!
So:
1. 1 disc fails - covered by RAID so can be replaced without losing data.
2. 2 disks fail - data lost (unless you use RAID 6)
3. RAID controller fails - data lost
4. Drive stolen/destroyed - data lost
Have another backup to hand just in case you are unlucky!
