RAID Data Recovery - Is it Even Possible?
If you've had a failure on your RAID system and are now looking into RAID Data Recovery, one of the many questions swimming through your mind is probably - How did this happen? And, am I even going to get my vital data back? Well I can tell you that even though its quite rare for a RAID system to fail, it can indeed happen.
However don't despair, there are indeed recovery options available to you, these might not be as easy as regular data recovery operations, but it can be done.
The key is to go about it the right way thereby avoiding many of the common pitfalls.
Although you may be familiar with RAID systems and their various implementations.
I'll give you a brief recap.
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks.
Basically, it is a set of disks that work together and have the ability to replicate and divide data throughout the set.
The main benefit is that one of the disks in the set can fail, but the rest of the drives in the set can continue unaffected.
This means that your data is still safe and you can even carry on working in most cases.
Despite this fault tolerance, even these complex fault tolerant RAID systems can sometimes crash and become inaccessible.
Specifically, some of the issues that can adversely affect the RAID system can range from controller failures, multiple drive failure, accidental replacement of media components, accidental format, lost array configuration, RAID degradation from intermittent disk failure, etc.
You need to keep in mind that once a system fails, its best that you don't attempt to fix it yourself.
Attempting a quick fix could place your personal data or your company's data at risk.
Unless you are already experienced in this kind of data recovery, you should always seek the assistance of a company with specialized RAID Data Recovery experience.
They will have highly trained specialists with many years of experience dealing with cases just like yours.
Considering the time and resources required to carry out this kind of work, you should bear in mind that this can be quite expensive.
It can cost several thousand dollars and upwards, depending on specific nature of the work involved.
Once you select a suitable 3rd party company and decide to go ahead with the recovery, they will most likely need you to sign a consent form.
Bear in mind that reputable firms will most likely only need the drives sent over to them.
Thereafter, the procedures carried out will usually involve making clones of the disks, performing specialized analysis and extraction in a clean room environment.
It can certainly be quite an involved process, one that is best avoided, if at all possible.
So one final piece of advice you should always keep in mind can be summed up in one word - Backups.
Always ensure you have a good set of up to date backups that you restore from, it could save you a lot of pain and grief.
However don't despair, there are indeed recovery options available to you, these might not be as easy as regular data recovery operations, but it can be done.
The key is to go about it the right way thereby avoiding many of the common pitfalls.
Although you may be familiar with RAID systems and their various implementations.
I'll give you a brief recap.
RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks.
Basically, it is a set of disks that work together and have the ability to replicate and divide data throughout the set.
The main benefit is that one of the disks in the set can fail, but the rest of the drives in the set can continue unaffected.
This means that your data is still safe and you can even carry on working in most cases.
Despite this fault tolerance, even these complex fault tolerant RAID systems can sometimes crash and become inaccessible.
Specifically, some of the issues that can adversely affect the RAID system can range from controller failures, multiple drive failure, accidental replacement of media components, accidental format, lost array configuration, RAID degradation from intermittent disk failure, etc.
You need to keep in mind that once a system fails, its best that you don't attempt to fix it yourself.
Attempting a quick fix could place your personal data or your company's data at risk.
Unless you are already experienced in this kind of data recovery, you should always seek the assistance of a company with specialized RAID Data Recovery experience.
They will have highly trained specialists with many years of experience dealing with cases just like yours.
Considering the time and resources required to carry out this kind of work, you should bear in mind that this can be quite expensive.
It can cost several thousand dollars and upwards, depending on specific nature of the work involved.
Once you select a suitable 3rd party company and decide to go ahead with the recovery, they will most likely need you to sign a consent form.
Bear in mind that reputable firms will most likely only need the drives sent over to them.
Thereafter, the procedures carried out will usually involve making clones of the disks, performing specialized analysis and extraction in a clean room environment.
It can certainly be quite an involved process, one that is best avoided, if at all possible.
So one final piece of advice you should always keep in mind can be summed up in one word - Backups.
Always ensure you have a good set of up to date backups that you restore from, it could save you a lot of pain and grief.
