Use RAID for desktop computer?

I'm building a new computer over the summer. I'm fairly competent in computer hardware, and am thus building the computer from scratch. I have everything planned out, but I was wondering if I should consider RAID, and if so, which RAID to use. I plan to purchase 2x1TB drives. Currently I'm leaning toward RAID 1 for the redundancy -- I've heard newer super-capacity drives fail more often than one would think, and I don't want to have a problem and lose all my data. What do you think? My mobo supports RAID 0/1/5/10. Is it worth it to use RAID at all, or should I just use a backup service like Mozy? Should I consider RAID 0 instead, for the performance? I'm kind-of going back and forth on this one. Thanks a lot for your help.

EDIT: I'd like to avoid the OS drive different from Data drive situation, because that can get frustrating when programs like to store a lot of data in their program files folder. I've lived with that situation before and it gets annoying after a while.


Solution 1:

If data loss is your concern, please remember that RAID is not backup. I suggest you invest in some form of backup, whether it's a 'cloud' solution or a simple rsync job to another computer.

This way, you can have your RAID 0 for performance as well.

Solution 2:

Be aware that even if you are mirroring drives, the raid controller itself is a single point of failure.

Solution 3:

It may be worth considering using an SSD as the OS/applications drive, for excellent performance (see Anandtech for a review of the latest Intel X25-M drive).

I opted for this, with two non-RAID HDDs for data (plus an external drive for backup), which works well.