D-Link Forums
D-Link FAQ => ShareCenter FAQs => Topic started by: JavaLawyer on January 28, 2013, 05:39:33 AM
-
It's always a good practice to fully test the behavior of your ShareCenter before copying real data to the unit. This practice holds true for novice users to the most experienced NAS experts. Never rely strictly on the information provided in the ShareCenter user manual, experience with older ShareCenter models, or experience with other brand NAS, without first testing to see how *your* ShareCenter behaves. Firsthand experience is always best when data integrity is at stake. At a minimum, ShareCenter testing should include: hard drive (HDD) formatting and configuration testing and data backup testing.
Testing HDD Formatting and Configuration Options
Before committing to a specific HDD format and configuration, you should test different formatting and configuration options, e.g. RAID-1, JBOD, mixed volumes, and other formatting scenarios that may appeal to you. Additionally, simulate different failure scenarios to better understand how the ShareCenter will behave in the event of a HDD failure or other cataclysmic event. You can simulate failures by powering down your ShareCenter, removing a HDD, and powering back up to see how the ShareCenter behaves. Next power down the ShareCenter, re-insert the HDD, and power back up to see if the ShareCenter recognizes the volume. You may also want to try creating scenarios that will force the ShareCenter to resync HDDs. The more pre-testing you performing, the better you will be prepared if or when something actually does go wrong. Now is the time to get creative, not after your real data is stored on the ShareCenter.
Testing Data Backup Jobs
You should always fully test any data backup options you've selected, whether using the ShareCenter backup software or third party software. It's always best to test backup jobs with directories containing non-essential test data. Using test data will avoid the scenario of accidentally deleting your source data. This type of mistake can occur if you accidentally mix-up the source and destination directories (i.e. if you set your original data as the "destination" and empty backup location as the "source" data location).