About RAIDs

RAID is an acronym for "Redundant Array of Independent Disks". Briefly, a RAID uses multiple drives to store data. Possible benefits of a RAID system include faster data transfer, and often some protection from data loss due to hard drive failure.

There are different types of RAID configurations, designated RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, etc. A good technical description and comparison of configurations may be found in this Wikipedia article.

RAIDs are great when they work. The redundancy feature of most systems can compensate for a drive failure; another drive in the array takes over without data loss. However, sometimes RAID systems fail altogether, making data recovery more complicated and expensive. But you can relax because even RAID 5 recovery is possible.

Although there is a lot to say about RAIDs, we think you should know a few important things about them relative to data recovery:

For example, many clients buy a single backup device, and are unaware that it actually consists of two hard drives that work together in a RAID 0 configuration. In our opinion, they may be courting disaster.

The "Invisible" RAID 0 Hard Drive

A RAID 0 system consists of two or more drives with striped data. What this means is that a portion - called a stripe - of your data is written to one drive, and then the next portion is written to the next drive. The problem is that part of a large file might be on one drive and the balance on the other, so if one drive fails, you may lose much - if not most - of your precious data.

RAID 0 is really a misnomer, because there is no redundancy whatsoever. So why would anyone sell or use RAID 0? RAID 0 provides one way to hook together two drives so that they appear to be one single drive, e.g. two 500 GB drives will appear to be a single terabyte drive (1 TB = 1,000 GB). Plus, the striping arrangement allows for fast data transfer.

Often clients will buy a large capacity hard drive not realizing that it actually consists of two drives in a RAID 0 configuration. The manufacturers may not call attention to this fact, which is why we call it an "invisible" RAID 0.

Should one drive fail in a RAID 0, the remaining drive really isn't any good by itself. The components of the RAID system have to be repaired and the RAID must be logically if not physically reassembled before data recovery can take place.

The bad news is that RAID 0 data recovery is much more expensive than single drive recovery. The good news is that Data Savers, LLC has high success rates with RAID recoveries and typically can recover your data for a fraction of what others charge.

Convert a RAID 0 into a RAID 1 System if Possible

Some two-drive RAID 0 back-up devices can be reconfigured to RAID 1. A RAID 1 system mirrors the data. In other words, your data is written to both drives simultaneously. Thus, if one drive fails catastrophically, your data is preserved on the other drive and data recovery is simplified, if needed.

The "downside" is that you lose half of the capacity of your storage, so that 1 TB drive now becomes a 500 GB drive. You also lose the extra speed that striping provides. But in our opinion, based upon the failure rates we see with some of the larger drives, the loss of capacity and speed is more than offset by the increase in security.

The time to configure a drive for RAID 1 is when it is brand new, not when it is filled with data. Converting a drive from RAID 0 to RAID 1, or visa-versa, will result in the loss of your data! However, if you copy your data from the RAID to another storage device, then the RAID can be reconfigured without a concern for data loss.

Don't Monkey with a Failed RAID

Very often technicians or other well-intentioned people will take RAID systems apart and hook up individual drives to PCs to read data, swap the order of the drives, or try to rebuild an array with failed components. Any of these mistakes can result in the permanent loss of your data. At the very least, it will complicated the RAID recovery process and may result in greater cost to you. Resist the temptation to attempt to fix a RAID yourself.

Contact Data Savers, LLC if Your RAID has Failed

If your RAID has failed, we can help. We can provide a rough estimate depending upon the particular type of RAID you have and the apparent failure. However, we find that there are so many variables, that it is best to send the RAID to our shop for a firm quote.

Please note that RAIDs, by their very nature, take longer than single drives to recover. Certain NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems take even longer. Please click on the Contact or Submit a Drive links for more information.

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