RAID Recovery Services
Here you will find out:
- What Causes RAID Degradation?
- What Is a RAID Configuration?
- When DiskInternals can help you
Are you ready? Let's read!
The majority of corporate PCs, servers, and storage devices are built using the RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) technology, which is a common method for storing data in the IT industry. The potential for catastrophic data loss due to a RAID failure is one of the most difficult data recovery difficulties that individuals, small businesses, and large organizations may encounter.
RAID has typically shown to be a very durable data security solution with different RAID Data recovery services; in normal situations, RAID is quite dependable. When difficulties arise, the risk of losing RAID parity and perhaps every single byte of data within the array is quite significant, especially if the user has RAID recovery skills.
Stop using the system (to avoid further damage – this includes data recovery software) and contact DiskInternals about our Raid Recovery Services if you're having troubles with your RAID configuration. RAID Data recovery services from arrays of all RAID levels, including the most seriously damaged, is accessible from our skilled RAID data recovery engineers. We are here to assist you with RAID data recovery.
What is RAID?
"Redundant Array of Independent Disks" (RAID) is an acronym for "Redundant Array of Independent Disks." A RAID system combines disk mirroring and disk striping techniques to secure files and/or speed up data access by presenting several drives to the operating system as a single logical data store. Data is diced up into many hard drives in disk mirroring, while data is split sequentially across disks in disk striping, resulting in substantially quicker read/write performance.
RAID Data recovery services are built in. These are intended to protect files stored on a physical set of several disks that make up a RAID array by slicing the data and storing it in numerous locations on multiple disk drives. The majority of RAID setups include data redundancy to defend against hard drive failure, while other RAID arrays are designed just for speed and do not include redundancy.
Between the server and the hard drives, a RAID controller forms an abstraction layer. The abstraction layer is a hardware or software-based controller that handles I/O to the hard drive, caches data, and provides additional protection in the case of a server crash. RAID controllers play a critical role in the overall operation of RAID devices, and many of the defects we find are due to controller problems.
What Is a RAID Configuration?
RAID arrays can be configured in a variety of ways, and Gillware supports all forms of RAID Data recovery services, regardless of the operating system. RAID arrays used in VMware, Hyper-V, NAS, SAN, and direct-attached server topologies can be recovered.
RAID Types We Recover
To improve elements of computer system storage, each RAID level employs numerous hard drives. The RAID levels each have their own set of advantages.
RAID 0 | RAID 1 | RAID 5 |
| In RAID 0, the primary goal of disk striping is speed. On each disk, data chunks that are dispersed throughout the disks are read and written concurrently. As there is no built-in data protection, you will lose your files if a drive fails despite the fact that this arrangement significantly increases disk speed. | Data security is RAID 1's (Mirroring) primary concern. By mirroring the data over at least two disks, a 1:1 clone of the data is produced. If only one disk fails, the data is totally safe, and the array may be rebuilt by adding the replacement disk. | Enterprise storage solutions like SAN and NAS devices frequently employ RAID 5. (striping with parity). For the optimal speed, data is striped over all drives, but a parity block is also written to each disk. The RAID may recreate the data using the parity blocks and restore data consistency in the case of a hardware failure. |
RAID 6 | RAID 10 | RAID 50 |
| Simply RAID-5 with one extra level is RAID 6. RAID 6 arrays add more parity data while still serving the same purpose as RAID 5 arrays. Due to its second layer of parity, RAID 6 can withstand up to two drive failures, but it requires one more hard drive than RAID 5 to hold the same amount of data. | RAID 10 (nested) gives high performance, fault tolerance, and data protection. The minimum configuration is 4 disks with data striped across them all, but, importantly, data is also mirrored between the disks. Therefore, in a four-disk configuration, two disks can fail and the files will still be protected. | Similar to how RAID-10 combines RAID-1 and RAID-0, RAID-50 (nested) combines RAID-5 and RAID-0. RAID-50 creates an array with typically exceptional fault tolerance by combining RAID-5's somewhat acceptable fault tolerance with RAID-0's complete absence of fault tolerance. |
What Causes RAID Degradation?
Despite its built-in safeguards, RAID is not a replacement for a solid backup plan; any RAID configuration may (and does) fail, resulting in data loss, especially if it employs low-cost disks. RAID deterioration or failure can be caused by a variety of factors, but as we'll see, our skilled RAID data recovery experts can effectively recover data from every type of RAID failure.
Due to the vast spectrum of possible difficulties, Gillware has received some of the most extensively damaged RAID arrays from clients all over the globe; each RAID data recovery case is dealt uniquely. A RAID array might fail for a variety of reasons. Almost all of these problems are caused by incorrect shutdowns, system failures, power outages, or hard disk failure.
- RAID Controller failure. The controller card is in charge of managing I/O access between the hard drives and the operating system. A non-redundant RAID array can be destroyed by a catastrophic failure, such as a power surge or component failure, resulting in unreadable drives and contents.
- Operating system not found. This problem happens when the RAID controller does not know how to boot the operating system; reasons vary, but are usually the consequence of a configuration or server hardware fault.
- Multiple disk failure. If the RAID has more disk failures than it is fault-tolerant for, data on the array may be damaged, resulting in corruption and data loss. For example, if three of four disks in a RAID 10 setup failed, the array would be destroyed, and the controller would be unable to recreate the data.
- Server fault. Unintentionally destroying a RAID array might also be caused by an issue with the host server. On a local RAID system, a motherboard failure or SATA controller damage is a frequent occurrence.
- Foreign Array. When a software or hardware controller fails, the RAID may be detected as a foreign array. An unanticipated fault, such as a firmware flaw or faults in the controller software, causes this.
- RAID rebuild failure. In RAID 5 installations, the controller will attempt to reconstruct the RAID array once a failing disk is replaced. If the wrong disk type is used as a hot spare, or if a disk with down-level firmware is inserted, the rebuild may fail.
When is RAID Data Recovery Needed?
There are several reasons why you may encounter data loss in your RAID-configured system:
- Multiple hard drives/ssd failure, drives are in offline mode
- RAID volumes or arrays won’t mount
- Addition of incompatible drives
- RAID array/controller card failure
- RAID container crash
- Server registry configuration lost
- Damaged striping
- Intermittent failure resulting in configuration corruption
- Configuration corruption or damage
- Software corruption/hardware conflicts
- Controller card set-up corruption
- Server won’t boot
- Rebuild failure
RAID Data Recovery Services
DiskInternals RAID Recovery is a professional software application that allows you to recover lost files and partitions from all kinds of RAID arrays. It is the favorite RAID backup & recovery tool of many IT experts; this software program has been regularly updated for more than 15 years.
More interestingly, DiskInternals RAID Recovery comes with a suite of useful features, as well as support various file systems. With the software, you would definitely get back your lost data from both software and hardware RAIDs; it works for macOS, Linux, and Windows OS. There are three (3) recovery modes supported by this program; there is also a built-in Recovery Wizard to guide users.
DiskInternals RAID Data recovery services are reliable and work only on Windows PCs. It supports all file types and works pretty very fast.
First Step:
Firstly, you need to turn off your computer/network server and disconnect the RAID drives in the array.
Second Step:
Remove the drives and connect them to a computer system via USB or any other supported means of connectivity.
Third Step:
Boot the computer where the hard drives are connected and install DiskInternals RAID Recovery software. After the installation, launch the program and follow the Recovery Wizard prompts to recover your lost files from each of the connected drives, one after another.
RAID Data recovery services - recovery tips
These are tips you should have at the back of your mind when attempting to recover files using DiskInternals RAID Recovery.
- Don’t rush the process - allow each step to run completely and successfully before proceeding to the next. Else, you may not recover all your lost files.
- Verify that you chose the exact disk drive that had the lost files you want to recover. If you select the wrong drive, you won’t get back any of the lost files.
- DiskInternals RAID Data recovery services come with a previewing engine, so you can preview the recovered files before saving them back to your local or remote storage.
Important Note: Don’t save the recovered files on the same drive where they were previously saved - from where they got lost.
Why Choose DiskInternals RAID Data recovery services?
Yeah, there are pretty many RAID Recovery tools out there, but DiskInternals RAID Recovery is much-advanced and backed by IT experts. It works very fast too, and there are three recovery modes you can choose from. Hereunder are other reasons to choose this recovery software:
- Retrieves lost files from software and hardware RAIDs
- Supports manual and automated recovery (Recovery Wizard) options
- Can save recover files from remote directories or local drive
- Supports Unicode filenames and multi-level folders
- Allows you to create backups for free (disk images)
- Automatically fixes pool and filesystem parameters, including disk order
- Recovers previous versions of files if available
- Verifies checksums to validate data credibility.
RAID Failure Prevention Tips
To prevent RAID array failure, there are some handy tips you need to know. It's simply knowing the common reasons why RAID arrays fail and then implementing safety measures that would curb those "reasons."
- Firstly, you should always monitor the RAID disk drives’ critical SMART parameters, health status, and temperature routinely. This will help you identify RAID array failure signs earlier and fix them before it escalates.
- Secondly, always back up your data regularly because no one can be too sure when data loss could occur.
- Don’t perform CHKDSK or SFC scans in a bid to fix and repair RAID array errors.
- Don’t ever use the “beta” version of a RAID firmware, OS, or system file. However, ensure to keep your OS and critical software apps updated to their latest stable versions regularly.
- Retain at least two new or empty drives, which would be used to replace failed drives in the array.
Pros & Cons of RAID Server
RAID provides a way of storing the data in different places on multiple hard disks. There are several different levels of RAID, and each has its own place and purpose. RAID is commonly used by small- to large-sized businesses for data protection purposes. It is popularly used because this system combines multiple hard disks to form one or more logical units. The RAID technology provides redundancy, reliability, and scalability.
RAID guarantees that even if one hard disk drive dies, you can still access your data since it adds redundancy. The RAID server's many disks provide fault tolerance while also increasing the system's storage capacity. RAID levels such as RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 2, RAID 3, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, RAID 50, and RAID 60 distribute data over several drives.
There are certain benefits to using RAID, as well as some drawbacks. Fault-tolerance, or the ability to withstand one or more disk failures, is one of the most important advantages of adopting RAID. To secure data, this system employs either disk mirroring or disk striping. In areas where data accessibility is crucial and fault tolerance is required, RAID provides a dependable storage option. However, depending on the RAID level you use, there are various drawbacks to utilizing RAID. Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks of adopting RAID.
Advantages of RAID
- Higher Data Security
- Simultaneous Reading and Writing of Data
- Increased Availability and Superior Performance
- Frequent Checks for Any Possible System Crash
- Ensures Data Reliability
- Fault Tolerance
Disadvantages of RAID
- Data Recovery can be Complex
- Not Complete Protection of Data
- Expensive
- Improper use may slow down the system performance
- Data striping makes it difficult to locate a single data file on a specific physical drive
DiskInternals RAID Recovery provides expert data recovery services for all RAID systems. Our RAID data recovery experts can promptly retrieve your lost data, whether it was lost due to physical damage or a logical error. We offer a full range of RAID services, and our professionals can answer any questions you have concerning data recovery. Our professionals have answered the most commonly asked questions about RAID data recovery services in the section below. If you have any further questions that aren't answered here, please contact our customer service department to talk with a RAID specialist.