ZimaCube Pro: A Simple NAS for Creators

[@scrow9]

I've always been a bit confused about this issue but can you explain a bit more about why this is NOT a backup solution? I am pretty sure I saw on your home screen an app? called Backup - what was that for? Could you not use some of your unused bays to hold extra storage discs to use as backup drives? I did a quick search on the ZimaCube forums and there seems to be a lot of discussion about support for Apple's Time Machine backup which will be a new feature that should be coming out very soon according to the company.

[@scrow9]

Google AI provided this answer to my question: A ZimaCube is not considered a "true" backup solution because while it offers RAID functionality to protect against single disk failure, it lacks a dedicated backup system to regularly export your data to a separate location, making it vulnerable to data loss if the entire ZimaCube unit fails or is compromised, and it doesn't have features for versioning or restoring specific data points in time like a traditional backup system would. Key points about why ZimaCube isn't a complete backup solution: Limited data redundancy: While RAID protects against a single disk failure, if the entire ZimaCube unit fails, all data could be lost unless you have a separate backup elsewhere. No dedicated backup software: ZimaCube's operating system doesn't have built-in backup tools to regularly transfer data to a remote location like a cloud storage service. No snapshot functionality: Unlike some NAS devices, ZimaCube doesn't readily create snapshots of your data at specific points in time, which is crucial for restoring data to a previous state if needed. What you can do to use ZimaCube with a proper backup strategy: External backups: Regularly back up important data from your ZimaCube to a separate external hard drive or cloud storage service. Third-party backup software: Consider using third-party backup software that can run on the ZimaCube to automate data backups to an offsite location.

[@rogerseng]

Yes it is a confusing subject. Think of NAS and RAID5 really as a fail-proof (somewhat) solution for storing data. It all becomes one single storage unit. Backups are copies of those single storage units. Yes the backup that you saw was Time Machine I use for my Mac to create a backup of the state of my computer.

[@scrow9]

@@rogerseng "Backups are copies of those single storage units. " - Ahhh yes I see now how you hit the nail on its head there! That's the difficult issue because in a NAS/Raid system, the data is split up between the different drives instead of all living in one location that can be easily copied/backed up, makes total sense now. Not sure how TimeMachine works around this but I'm glad somehow it does

[@HeyItsZeph]

Just wanted to point it out, Raid configs use the smallest disk capacity when you're polling the disks together, you're basically not using half of the both 8TB HDDs you put in, which is going out for waste at the moment. Also pooling 3 identical drives is recommended for a RAID setup. You pooled 2 HDDs and 1 SSD which isn't going to give you a proper RAID setup because the way data is stored on the SSD and a HDD is different and they have very different IOPS (input-outputs) and very different Read and Write speeds. I am not a complete expert in this, but I have seen HDD and SSD pools together could fail easily and on the hardware level it is a little difficult for the system to process the files across those drives. I'd recommend adding another HDD of 8TB and pooling only the HDDs together and using the SSDs as Cache drives maybe or just doing a Raid 1 on the SSDs together if you want that nice read and writes from the SSDs. But again, the Network might be limited since the Zima Cube has a 10GbE and a 2.5GbE ports, use the 10GbE port with a compatible switch or router so you get the max out of it.

[@rogerseng]

@@HeyItsZeph thank you for this. I’m such a noob at this so I’m trying to learn more.