RAID is a virtualization technology used for data storage. RAID 5 is the most robust level of the system, offering better protection against drive failures and errors. It is made up of a minimum of 3 disks. The RAID system 5 relies on two active methods: the RAID array shares the stored files evenly across the linked disks, and this level 5 calculates the parity information corresponding to all of the user’s stored data. Have you just lost important data on your computer? Do you want to format your device? Here are the methods you can use to recover data on RAID 5.
Recovering data using recovery software
Note that RAID systems (except RAID 0) can guarantee fault tolerance, depending on their configuration. Compared to other RAID levels, RAID 5 uses between 67 and 90% of available space depending on the hard drives you use. If your system fails, you should install the Technician and Toolkit versions of Ontrack EasyRecovery. This is recovery software that lets you recover data easily from devices.
Here are the benefits of using this software.
- Data recovery: with this version, you can recover your corrupted files from a hard drive, a memory card, or a USB flash drive.
- Quick and thorough analysis: you can efficiently scan your deleted files or perform a manual scan for the recovery of your documents.
- RAID volume restoration: this software allows you to rebuild damaged volumes.
- Ease of use: in the event of a failure, you can carry out the recovery of your documents at your own pace. With this software, you have the option of saving your RAID recovery step and resuming it whenever you have time.
Follow the same processes as for a normal hard drive failure
A drive failure can cause data loss, corruption, or inaccessibility on your hard drive. In the event of your system failing, here are the recovery procedures for your data.
- Clone your hard drives to back up your data and to allow recovery of the parity blocks.
- You must replace the hard drive while respecting the RAID architecture.
- Proceed with data reconstruction from the parity blocks of the other hard drives.
Note that RAID 5 uses a fairly large number of disks. At this level 5, the failure of a single disk does not affect the operation of the system. However, if several RAID disks fail, avoid attempting a RAID rebuild. Doing so could damage your device, and you would no longer be able to recover your files.
Complying with recovery procedures
RAID 5 offers greatly improved read, write, and security performance. Despite its storage capacity, this level 5 array fails if:
- A data loss incident occurs;
- The RAID controller card stops working;
- Your device is attacked by viruses;
- There is a change in disk order;
- There is corruption or loss of the partition table.
Data recovery on the system is not easy to carry out. In this case, you must follow a procedure to repair the RAID failure.
- Install your RAID recovery software.
- Analyze the RAID volumes or data that you are going to recover.
Select an appropriate number of hard drives to rebuild the RAID array. You must check that your RAID controller is operating independently.