A2zDataRecovery

RAID Data Loss can involve Varied File Systems and Disk Damage

While software like PC Tools might repair file system damage on personal computers and make files readable again, they will prove quite inadequate in a RAID environment. RAID data loss can be caused by several factors like controller failure, broken disk arrays and other factors, besides file system damage.

File systems specify the way in which data is organized on the disk and they range from the simple FAT systems used under the DOS environment for small storage media to NTFS5 systems used by latest versions of Windows, Linux and UNIX file systems and software RAID file systems that write data to multiple large capacity hard disks.

Damage to file systems can often be repaired by using data recovery software tailored to particular file systems. Thus there are FAT 32 or NTFS file system recovery software, Linux Ext1 and Ext2 file system software and other specialized software. The file system must be repaired first before attempting to recover the files themselves. In a RAID environment file system repair software might work at best on a single disk of the configuration.

RAID Data Recovery and Disk Imaging, Often the damage is too serious to be recovered using do-it-yourself data recovery software. In such cases, an exact image of the contents of an entire disk is created in an image file and analyzed to recover all recoverable data. Data recovery disk images are not created by copying a disk but by using special software that replicates the disk content exactly as it is. Copy, on the other hand, creates a formalized file that is interpreted by the file system.

Data recovery companies typically create a disk image of the damaged disk before starting work. No work is done on the original damaged disk as it can aggravate the damage. Instead, the image is analyzed and everything is reconstructed to the extent possible. Once the reconstruction is complete, the recovered data is stored on another disk.

While the procedure outline above for hard disk data recovery can be applicable to individual hard disks in a RAID system, where the system as a whole has become problematic, much more complex work will usually be involved. For example, the RAID array might have to be reconstructed painfully.

RAID data recovery can thus involve a file system repair, disk imaging and analysis or a complete rebuild of the RAID. The file systems can involve FAT 32, NTFS, Linux, UNIX, RAID software or Mac File systems. As would be evident, considerable experience and specialized know-how are required to undertake the full range of RAID data recovery.