Best RAID setup for video editing, storage workflow?
 

My hardware:

A 5k iMac with 1tb internal SSD for my OS.
An OWC Thunderbay 4 Mini with 4x 1.0TB regular SSDs in RAID 0 as a scratch drive for video editing and storage of recent projects.
An external 10TB drive used as a time machine backup for the above.
Recent addition: An OWC Thunderbay 4 with 4x 6.0TB Ironwolf NAS HDDs. Trying to decide what RAID setup to use with this, if any. Could do JBOD too.

Could also add a cloud backup.

All are connected via Thunderbolt 2

I currently have 3.5TB total of data, most of which could be kept in cold storage, and expect to add about 1-2 TB per year.

I’ve been using the Mini in RAID 0 as a scratch drive for video editing and it works great. But I’ve now filled up the 4TB capacity of the Thunderbay 4 Mini, so I added a Thunderbay 4 with the 6TB ironwolf drives.

I thought about going RAID 5 for the new drives, but I’m hearing that’s stupid for drives larger than 2TB because they will fail. So do I go JBOD and a cloud backup for the whole thing? RAID 0 and a could backup? Or RAID 10 and no cloud backup, but less storage space? Something else?

Thanks in advance for your input!

RAID 5 is fine as long as you also have a backup. Even if you go RAID 6 or JBOD, you still need a backup. The difference between the different RAID levels comes down to how important is it to keep the data available at all times, not busy being restored from backup when a drive fails.

I don't see the point in RAID on SSD for video editing. (Also noting that RAID "0" really isn''t a RAID at all, no redundancy, the R in RAID.)

JBOD is rarely a good idea for meaningful non-temp storage. On drive goes, all data is useless.

"Cloud" backup is just online backup, and slow unless you have one of those gigabit Google uplinks. Completely useless for local video application like editing.

You can get 4x 4tb Samsung SSD 850/860 EVO for about $1400. My last 4tb Seagate was $425 shipped, no tax from eBay, from a reliable seller.

Rebuilding RAID can be painful slow, without your computer for days.

Really the only point of RAID 0 in general is getting a very large, very fast volume you can read from and write to very quickly, but don't necessarily store anything important on more than short term. However, due to it's nature, if one drive goes, the whole array is lost, along with the contents of the array. So, it's not really suitable for any data you want to keep more than short term. I would consider RAID 0 to be maybe appropriate for scratch workspace for video editing, where after the editing was complete, final edited video was saved elsewhere and the interim files from editing were considered disposable. So, kinda as you're using it now. But the key is that the final product is saved elsewhere and the interim files are considered disposable. If you're storing data on a RAID0 that you would be upset if you lost, you shouldn't be keeping it there.

I personally consider using RAID 5 with today's large drives (and thus potentially very long rebuild times) to be irresponsible. Search the web for horror stories of data lost because a RAID 5 array suffered a 2nd disk failure mid-rebuild. RAID 6 is the minimum I consider for a striping w/ parity type volume, and due to it's nature, it's best suited for data that will be read from more than written to.

At 4 bays, the difference between RAID 10 and RAID 6 is a wash when it comes to space. Both only offer 2 drives' worth of space from 4 drives. RAID 6 will be able to tolerate 2 drive losses without losing data. RAID 10 may be able to tolerate 2 drive losses without losing data *depending on which drives are lost*. At 4 drives, RAID 10 will beat RAID 6 at write speed, tie it at read speed, win at rebuild times, and win at both read & write speed during a rebuild.

So it depends on what your intended use case of this 4 bay enclosure is. Is it intended for long term storage of data, to be mostly read from, and you'll be able to tolerate a few days to a week of it being quite a bit slower than usual during a rebuild? I might go RAID 6. If it is to be more general day-to-day use, being written to as much as it is read from, or you can't suffer a performance hit during a rebuild, I might go with RAID 10.

It sounds like you already have backups covered with your 10TB drive and Time Machine. Good. While lordsmurf is correct in that having a cloud backup in itself will not be of any use in helping you edit video, what it will do is give you a 2nd line of defense in preventing permanent loss of all those videos you worked so hard on. Fire? Theft? Flooding? Curious Nephew? Goodbye editing computer, and potentially backup drive along with it. A cloud backup can help you recover from that situation. However, it is an additional cost. So, it is up to you whether or not it is worth it to pay the cost or bear the risk.