Is RAID a replacement for backup?

No. RAID protects against drive failure but not against accidental deletion, ransomware, fire, theft, or controller failure. Always maintain a separate backup — ideally off-site or in the cloud — in addition to your RAID array. RAID is for uptime and performance; backup is for data safety.

Can I mix different size drives in a RAID enclosure?

You can, but in most RAID configurations all drives will be limited to the capacity of the smallest drive. A 4TB and 8TB drive in RAID 1 gives you 4TB of mirrored storage. JBOD mode lets you use full capacity of each drive independently but provides no redundancy.

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