[Ma-linux] NAS Box using software RAID

[Jay Hart]

I'm standing up a new NAS Box (using FreeNAS) using matching 1TB Drives (total
of two drives).  System disk will be a USB flash disk.

1. What is the best combo to use for these two drives?

(PS, I can't get but two drives in the box, thats why I'm using two.)

2. Also, should I partition the drives to use 2 500GB partitions and leave the
last half of the drive unused.  Would this allow for easier recovery?  Maybe
setup up a second RAID drive on the last half of the disk and mirror the
first.

3. I'm thinking I need to go procure a spare identical drive for recovery in
case one goes bad.

4. What would be the best plan to use for a 2 drive RAID system?

5. Will 2GB of RAM be sufficient for a TB of RAID 5 storage.  I think it
should be, as use of the drives will be low.

6. Does anyone know a way to backup Windows drives automatically to a NAS
device?  I can do it manually, but I'm looking for a utility I can tell which
directories to backup and the timeframe this needs to occur.

My plan is to use full amount of both drives in a RAID 5 configuration.  I
think this would work, but I'm not well versed on recovery using two drives.

TIA,

Jay