A Guide to Recover Files from RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50 and 60

RAID or Redundant Array of Independent Disk is a popular way of storing data securely. As data is a valuable asset, losing it could create a problematic situation for any business. Hence, RAID storage solution has become a critical addition for enhancing data security. Depending upon the usage and data storage requirements, various levels and configurations of RAID arrays like 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, etc. are used.

However, RAID arrays are also not foolproof as they too can fail, leading to data loss. In such situations, keeping a reliable RAID recovery software proves to be of great help. Various RAID recovery software provide advanced data recovery solutions for retrieving data from numerous types of RAID arrays. These software can recover data from any crashed RAID array by virtually rebuilding it using parameters entered by the users. Let’s proceed further and see what RAID recovery is.

What is RAID Recovery?

As the topic suggests, RAID recovery is a way of recovering data from a crashed, formatted or corrupted RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 along with nested RAID arrays like 10, 50, and 60. It is done using a dedicated RAID recovery software to avoid any major data loss, which could prove to be fatal for the users.

What Causes Data Loss in RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50 and 60?

There are many reasons behind RAID failure and subsequent data loss. Listed below are some reasons that could cause RAID failure –

• Human errors
• Drive failure
• Software failure
• Controller failure
• Mechanical errors
• Power outage
• Malware infection, etc.

A broken or corrupt RAID might not show the data present on it or even become inaccessible. While the data present on individual drives of RAID become inaccessible, it is still present there, which could be recovered and restored using a sophisticated RAID recovery software.

Some Commonly Used RAID Arrays

Recovering data and files from a corrupt or bad RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50 or 60 is something that RAID users may find difficult. As mentioned before, when a RAID drive gets corrupt, data recovery can only be performed after reconstructing it. And to reconstruct a RAID, a professional tool is required. This is where RAID recovery software like Stellar Data Recovery Technician helps you get your work done easily.

Before performing data recovery from RAID 0, 1, 5, 6 or from nested RAIDs like 10, 50 and 60, let’s look at the popular RAID types and data loss scenarios for each.

RAID 0: This uses 2 or more drives and data is split among them evenly. There is no fault tolerance, hence, if one drive fails, the whole RAID array fails. Performing RAID 0 data recovery is the only way to retrieve lost data.

RAID 1: This setup uses a minimum of 2 drives. This setup replicates the data present on the primary drive and creates mirror copies of it onto the additional drives in the array. Though there is no parity, if a disk fails in this array, disks with mirror copies can be used to recover data. However, if all the drives fail, then the only way to recover data from a failed RAID 1 is by using a RAID recovery software.

RAID 5: This employs block-level data striping with a single parity distributed among the drives. This has a fault tolerance of 1 drive, i.e., if one drive fails, the array will not fail and the data could be retrieved without any loss. However, if 2 or more disks fail, then the array will fail, causing data loss.

RAID 6: This is an enhanced version of RAID 5. It also employs block-level data striping with two parities distributed evenly across the disks. This array has a fault tolerance of 2 drives, i.e., it can work even if two drives fail. However, if more than two disks fail then the array will fail, causing data loss.

RAID 10: RAID 10 or RAID 1+0 is a nested RAID, which is a combination of RAID 1 and RAID 0. It employs both data stripping and mirroring techniques for storing data. It has a higher fault tolerance. However, if it fails, then RAID 10 recovery could be performed for retrieving the data.

RAID 50: RAID 50 or RAID 5+0 is another type of nested array which combines the distributed parity of RAID 5 with data striping of RAID 0. This is mainly used for meeting high performance requirements and can withstand up to 4 drive failures, with each failure occurring in separate RAID 5 arrays.

RAID 60: RAID 60 or RAID 6+0 is a type of nested RAID array that combines together the dual parity of RAID 6 with data striping of RAID 0. RAID 60 has a fault tolerance of 2*K disks or 2 drives from each RAID 6 array.

How to Recover Data from Failed RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50 or 60?

Now that we have a basic understanding of various RAID types, let’s look at how we can recover data from failed or corrupted RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50 and 60.

While most of the above-mentioned RAID types offer parity (except for RAID 0, 1, and 10), RAID recovery software works for both degraded drives and logically failed RAID arrays. Stellar Data Recovery Technician performs RAID data recovery in a streamlined manner by virtually rebuilding the RAID using the parameters known to the user. It can also rebuild a failed RAID array if the parameters are not known by using patterns. Once the RAID array is rebuilt, the software then scans it for recoverable data. Let’s look at the steps we can use for recovering data from corrupt or damaged RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50 or 60 –

• Install Stellar Data Recovery Technician and launch it.
• On the first screen, select the type of data you want to recover. By default, All Data is selected, and all the checkboxes are checked. Click Next once you’ve finalized your choice.

• On the next screen, check the ‘RAID Recovery’ option at the bottom of the screen and click Scan.

• A new ‘RAID Reconstruction’ window will open. Follow the below steps in the given order:
  • Click on the RAID tab that you are scanning, for e.g. – RAID 5
  • In the ‘Select Hard Drives to Reconstruct RAID’ section, select the missing Hard drives and click on ‘>’ button to add them under the ‘Move hard drives up/down for disk order’ section. You can remove any hard drive at this stage by clicking on the ‘<’ button.
  • In the ‘Move hard drives up/down for disk order’ section, place the drives in order by using the UP and DOWN buttons present there.
  • Next, in the ‘Select RAID Parameters’ section, select the details for various parameters using their respective drop-down menus.

Note – If you don’t know the Parameters, you can check the ‘Don’t know start sector of drives. Show list of probable start sectors’ checkbox. Under it, select a value for ‘Select one or more probable start sectors’ using its drop-down menu.

• Click Build RAID. The software will start building the RAID.

• Once the RAID is reconstructed, a single RAID volume will be displayed next on the ‘RAID Recovery’ screen.

• On this screen, the reconstructed RAID will be shown as a single volume under Physical Disk section. Expand the ‘Volume List’ to list all the found RAID array volumes under it.
• Select the RAID volume from where you wish to recover your lost data and click Scan.

• Once the Scanning process is complete, it will list all the recovered files. You can preview the required files and then click Recover to save them at the desired location.

Conclusion

RAID arrays offer various benefits for storing data from data security to higher read/write speeds and more. However, like any other data storage device, they too are susceptible to data loss due to various reasons like drive corruption, controller failure, malware attack, etc.

RAID users should not worry as there is a simple way to recover the data from their failed RAID array or drives. Recovering files from any RAID has become easier with a sophisticated software like Stellar Data Recovery Technician. We hope this article will help you recover data from your failed or crashed RAID 0/1/5/6 or 10, 50, and 60.