RAID Data Recovery

RAID data systems can greatly increase your data’s speed and availability, but sometimes the system can fail meaning you’ll need to implement RAID data recovery.

RAID is a very common method of data storage, the term ‘RAID’ meaning ‘redundant array of disks’. First designed in 1987, the name is now used to describe any method of storing data that uses separation and duplication of data amongst a number of different disk drives.

RAID can improve your data storage system’s reliability thanks to the way it creates a network of drives to store your data on. Therefore, if one of the drives fails, all of your data remains protected due to the fact it is also stored on other drives in the array. RAID protects you from losing your vital information. The chance of each of your drives failing at the same time and you needing to perform RAID data recovery is very small, yet there are occasions when it can fail:

Power surgesVirusesPhysical damage to your computer, for example water, fire or impact damageController failure – While many RAID systems use multiple disk drives, there is only ever one controller. If the controller fails, so will the arrayMulti-Drive failure – While it won’t happen very often, there is a chance. Remember that because each of your drives are doing the same amount of work, once one goes, there rest may not be far from failing eitherIncorrect configuration of drivesProblems with reformattingThe occasional failure of individual drives, causing deterioration over time

On the rare occasions when RAID does fail, the effect on your business operations can be catastrophic. Therefore, we shouldn’t even have to mention the necessity of backing up all of your systems regularly as a precaution. The trouble with RAID is that its overall safety is so good that many are led into a false sense of security about the safety of their data. They feel that it isn’t necessary to back up their system, and it is this mistaken belief that all too often leads to disaster.

There are two options when RAID fails. Buy a good RAID data recovery program and install it on your system before you experience any problems with it. As these RAID data recovery programs are able to access your drives and assess what has happened, it may be able to fix any potential problems, so long as there aren’t any physical problems with your array.

Chances are though, that you will need to call on the RAID data recovery professionals to come to the rescue after the damage is done. From a technical point of view, RAID data recovery is a very difficult method of recovering data, yet the professionals may be able to help you.

In order to give yourself maximum protection against RAID failure and the loss of your crucial data, you can take note of the following tips:

Regularly back up all of your dataMake sure that your array configuration is well documented, if possible when it is first set up. Documentation should include the actual setup as well as the connection orderYou can test the ability of your system to recover after drive failure, but make sure you backup your data first!Replace a hard disk drive straight away once it has failed, and make sure that the replacement drive has been tested and conforms to the specifications of your systemDo not attempt the rebuilding of any corrupted RAID file system, this will only damage your data even moreIf you notice a RAID fault warning or any other odd system behaviour, for example strange sounds, never ignore this. Ignoring these warnings means that your hard drive could be running in a degraded mode, so you will be left without options in the event of a second drive failingIf there is a fault with more than one drive, then you can do nothing more to try and recover data by yourself. You should call out a professional RAID data recovery specialistDo not attempt different methods of data recovery. In most cases, someone who doesn’t know what they are doing will only make the situation worse, reducing the chances of getting the data retrieved. Professional help needs to sought as soon as possible

Just as in life, it only takes a little preparation and common sense to protect your important data. While RAID systems hardly ever fail, just remember that nothing is unsinkable and when disaster does strike, the results for your business could be devastating if you are not prepared. Ensure that your system is properly set up, take precautions with safety and fix any problems the moment you notice them.

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