I'm trying to figure out how to set up my two external drives so that one (Drive 2) mirrors the other (Drive 1) while I'm at home, but I also want Drive 1 to remain usable when I'm away. When I come back, I want Drive 2 to automatically copy any new files or changes I made while I was away. I've heard that traditional RAID 1 might not be what I need since it can lead to corruption. Does anyone have a solution for this?
4 Answers
Rsync is a great free option if you're comfortable with command line. You can set it up in a batch file to run regularly. Just remember to tell it to delete files that no longer exist on the source drive for true mirroring! Here's a simple command you can use: rsync -avh --delete /mnt/d/ /mnt/e/.
You can’t really use RAID 1 because that requires both drives to have the same data at all times. You'll want to look into folder sync software or backup solutions. This way, any files you add to Drive 1 while away will be properly mirrored to Drive 2 when you return.
I've been using SyncBackPro for a while now to keep my two external drives in sync. It’s been really reliable and straightforward for my needs.
It sounds like you need a synchronization method rather than just mirroring. Instead of trying to set up a traditional mirror, consider syncing your drives each time you connect the mobile one when you get back from your trip.
I often deal with multimedia files too, and I want to make sure no edits or new files get overlooked when transferring back. So, sync software seems like a decent workaround.