I worked for Microsoft for over 6 years, and I swore, when I left, that I would find a better way.
I ran into Ubuntu Linux after going from Red Hat, to Fedora, and Suse...
I tested it out for some time, setting up a server to handle all those functions I was paying hundreds of dollars for.
Then I converted all the machines over that I own, and I have been more than happy.
Every machine I set up has a RAID, My "user" machines all get RAID 1, my server and my play machines get either RAID 5 or RAID 6
I have had drives go bad, operating system troubles, hardware troubles, and everything imaginable.
My data is still safe. Stuff that I have collected for 10 or more years, files, mails, etc...
I don't worry about any of it.
I tried raid in Windows, and without purchasing expensive hardware, forget it. It doesn't work, or at least, it doesn't work well.
While I worked at Microsoft, I went in for a "blue badge" interview. While I waited, a currier brought in a box for a group in building 53. This box was a copy of Red Hat Enterprise.
I thought that was funny, but when the guy came to pick it up, he explained that they had sensitive data on their servers, and they couldn't trust that data to Windows Server Addition, (back in the Win 2K days).
If Microsoft cannot trust their own software, why should I?