Windows 7: Need File Backup/Redundancy Help (RAID or Software?)

I searched high and low and all the backup info I could find was for a disc image and I'm already using Macrium for that. No info on file backup/redundancy that I could find though.

I'm a wedding photographer so it's highly important that I keep my clients files backed up multiple times over in case of drive failure/corruption/etc. There are no do-overs for wedding days.

I've been manually backing up everything since forever, and I'm tired of it. Ready to set up RAID or some type of program that will back up automatically for me each night. My requirements are...



A) Must be easy to set up. I'm not super tech savvy in the slightest.

B) Must be as affordable as possible. I like to run a lean business.

I have two matching internal 500GB drives (one of which has my OS on it), one additional internal 1TB drive, and I currently have a 2TB external also. I can add another matching 1TB internal drive for RAID 1 duty, but don't really know how to set RAID up at all. I can also add as many externals as necessary.

Ideally I'd like my main drive with OS to be for my OS, programs, business documents like PDFs and Word/Excel files and personal stuff only. I'd like my second internal 500GB drive to mirror my main drive to back up all my personal stuff, music, etc. How can I accomplish this? Set up RAID 1 for D:/ drive to mirror my main working C:/ drive? How do I go about that?

I'd then like my 1TB internal drive to be exclusively for client images only, and I'd like to either have another internal 1TB mirroring it, but honestly I think I'd rather have one or two external 1TB drives for on-site backup so that at the end of the year I could store the external 1TB drive(s) safely as I constantly fill these drives up and have to swap them out, reformat the internal drive, and start anew each year. Seems like there should be a pretty easy software solution that would auto-backup that internal drive to any external drive I specify as frequently as I'd like it to (like overnight). Is this is a good solution and if so, how do I go about it?

I have concerns with copying information, because right now I'm running 4x2GB of Corsair RAM, my timing is pretty lax, and I'm up from 1.8V to 1.9V, and the system is rock solid EXCEPT for when I try to drag and drop copy a bunch of information from one drive to another, and then I get a BSOD every single time. Is this going to compromise my ability to do a backup? Does it limit me to RAID?

I'm also still trying to decide between Backblaze or Carbonite for off-site backup, and am open to either one or any other option you guys feel is safe, secure, and reliaable.

Thanks a ton for any help.

First you seek two mutually exclusive things. Bullet proof reliability and ease of use. I have been in your shoes so know both.

We could use your system specs, and networking setup so we know what hardware we are dealing with, and with the drag and drop problem you already have I would suggest you solve that first because RAID or not, if your memory karks it will take the data with it.

Dependent on your mobo and data requirements RAID (0, or 1) may be more trouble than it is worth. I have used raid for decades and it is an aging method. It uses quantity (random array of Inexpensive Disks) over quality. These days there are realtime live methods that are less intensive to set up and use.

How much data, how frequently you back up (to a second computer, to a second location, to a second media type, etc) all determine which.

Usually a mix of all three works the best.

Thanks for the reply. My system specs are in my dropdown in the post and everything is up to date.

Off-site backup is the only kind of backup associated with any other location/computer other than this desktop.

Networking setup is just this desktop on my home wireless network.

C:/ drive is my main working drive and D:/ drive is where I want it to back up to or mirror to. Around 50-60GB here. I'd like it to back up fairly often but could really go once weekly here.

E:/ drive is my 1TB internal that I want to back up to at least one external. This will be all my client files. As the year goes on it'll get filled up, but per wedding I add roughly 40 GB and need this to back up nightly as I'm often working on client files daily and need it to stay current always. At the end of the year I want to archive the external drive, reformat the internal drive, and start all over again.