Carbon Copy Cloner vs Time Machine: best backup software for Mac

[bluesman]

16 hours ago, kirkmc said:

RAID does offer extra protection. 

RAID is not backup.  A physical event (fire, spilled drink, etc) can take out out all the drives at once.  If the data on one drive become corrupted, RAID 1 will simply duplicate the damage.  If you accidentally delete a file or unknowingly alter one, RAID will follow suit.  Malware remains a constant risk, despite the best available protection - and RAID will just add it to the mirror image.  A big surge can take out both disks and the NAS they rode in on.  
 

RAID is also a performance hog.  Read-write speeds are lower in any mirrored RAID array than straight to disks.  If you’re using RAID on multiple internal disks, it’ll suck computer processing power.

 

You’re only using half the total storage space on the disks in a mirrored RAID array.  Capacity may be cheap now, but many of us have far more than a TB of music plus photos, videos etc.  An 8 TB WD Red Pro is about $300.  If you use a NAS with 4+ drives, doubling its capacity gets costly quickly and one event can wipe out a thousand dollars worth of drives in a flash.   I’ve had to replace a drive in a NAS about once every 3 to 4 years, and I’ve always used 2 bay units.  Unlimited, automated online BU costs me about $90/yr, which is cheaper than doubling my drives for RAID 1.
 

RAID is a convenience for continuity - you can keep on listening with one failed disk. But not all NASs allow data access while rebuilding a fresh disk, and even writing 1 TB can take many hours during which you may not be able to access the good disk(s).  There are many many web posts about this, and I experienced it with a WD My Cloud Mirror.
 

No, RAID is not backup.