I believe software raid allows you to recover data with different hardware, or move your disk to a different hardware platform. Something you cannot do with hardware raid. I think that is really the only difference.

I don't believe this is true for anything in their server or business line.

If your customers trust you, you should offer to do the encryption for them. Then you can securely store the disk or iso that is created when you do the encryption. This disk will let you remove the encryption to troubleshoot the drive or recover things. It even works if they change the password.

Perfect, can I interest you in this iDevice that is guaranteed not to run any software the manufacturer doesn't approve.

//copyright enforcement software pre-installed and we retain the ability to yank back any content we disagree with.

All contracts and social standards are enforced at gunpoint? Good negotiating skills you have there.

Cloud storage is the worst possible option for long term archive, IMHO. Your monthly costs will far outstrip the upfront cost for your own archive, usually in the first year. You also never know the long term prospects for any company, your storage could disappear overnight with little or no warning. Finally, God forbid you need to pull down your backups during a disaster on a residential ISP line.

I have used truecrypt full disk encryption on pretty junky low power laptops and noticed essentially no overhead. Most of your overhead would be CPU related, not disk.
You can find multiple people online who all seem to agree that any overhead from full disk encryption with truecrypt is unnoticeable. Give it a try. When you do the install you are forced to burn a disk or make on ISO you can use to remove the encryption if you are unhappy.

Smart almost never tells me a drive is failing. However, if I see a smart log with a bunch of entries and I swap the drive the end user usually indicates a significant performance increase.

.1% seems high, probably more like .01%, or .001%

Let's not forget about that great Sony innovation, MemoryStick.
I remember working in Best buy around 1997. One of the audio guys told me that the Sony rep had shown them some demo stuff that had all the music on something the size of a stick of gum. He said that this was going to replace CD's and it was the future format.
Years later, I realized this guy must have been talking about Memory Stick, the SD card's mentally disabled cousin.

I ran into this awhile back on some ebooks I was trying to read. I got a crash course in sed and awk because nothing else could parse large files quickly and replace things.

I feel your pain, my name is an unpronounceable symbol.

Someone who reads and buys many books knows their way around a book store. Judging from the people I hear saying they love Christian Gray, I'm surprised they don't need to paint a line on the floor from the entrance. They definitely need their own bookshelf, so those dolts can find the stuff they are looking for.

sorry if I sound churlish...

To be fair, Pratchett is on my never read list.

Friends don't let friends allow app guys to mess with network/security.