As it was said, you may try unRAID which would handle even the different size drives.
As alternative, it looks like mdadm should fit your requirements. You can use smth like openmediavault for that.
I would definitely contact seller for that. Warranty is one of the things why you get the new drive, at least that is critical to me. Return the drive if they would refuse to provide you with the warranty.
i don't have space for disk image by the way.
Get the backup drive for it, make the image and restore after. It's the most efficient way.
Look for the best deals and the best $/TB ratio. Not really much other advices rather than having more backup copies next time.
It is still not only about me. But ok.
You can use FreeFileSync to sync the data across two drives. I wouldn't say that it's a complete backup, but should be enough for your use case.
Well, but if that doesn't happen?
I do prefer pre-built NAS over DIY when it comes for simple and straightforward solution, but it still depends from the use case.
I hope it helps a bit.
Usually enterprise drives have the dwpd in their specs, and consumer grade not likely to have it.
Hmm, het the drives, check the smart data and run the full surface test. If the drives pass the tets, you should be fine. Also, clarify about warranty on refurb drives since they usually have a limited warranty for 2 years.
Honestly, with Storage Spaces you won't get any performance, as well as, reliability. First of all, parity option with storage spaces will lose your data, unless you have reliable backups.
You can try to go with stablebit drivepool + snapraid and check the performance, at least it is simply more reliable. Otherwise, to get a decent performance use hardware RAID or linux mdadm.
Look for the deals on high capacity drives. Any drive from Seagate, WD or Toshiba should work for you, just look for the best price within desired capacity.
I would use Samsung PM897 rather than 990 pro, simply because PM897 is enterprise drive, and it should be more reliable.
Also, compare both drives DWPD, the higher it is, the more reliable drive is. https://www.kingston.com/en/ssd/dwpd
Obviously the best medium to store the data is HDD, just because of the $/TB ratio. You can get high capacity drive for really cheap. Also, if there nothing special is required in terms of performance, I wouldn't look into SSDs.
I do not see any issues using not DIY NAS, as OP wants. As you mentioned, it is a data hoarder forum where people can save the data where they want.
Look for NAS/Enterprise grade drives (they are all cmr) with the best $/TB ratio and warranty time. There is really not much difference between alternatives from different brands.
Look for enterprise or NAS grade drives. Really no matter which brand, just look for the best $/TB ratio.
I believe you just got bad luck with those drives. You should be able to RMA those drives if they were bought as new. I had a few drives which failed in a few months, and some that are running fine for 5+ years.