Easy Way to Recover Data from Failed Raid 5 Disk

The causes for RAID 5 failures

RAID is an acronym for Redundant Array of Independent Disks which means the disk can survive failure or malfunction of one of the member of the RAID 5 disk. If the failure of a RAID 5 partition affects only one member disk then it can easily get your partition data back, without having any interruptions in the whole array. But in case of multiple disk drive failures, there are no chances of retrieving the array data without an external aid.

Here are the general causes for a RAID 5 partition failure

A RAID 5 partition can fail due to any of the below mentioned reasons:

• Breakdown of any one (or more that one) of the member disks of RAID 5 array
• Breakdown of some of the member disks of RAID 5 array
• Operator related errors and device controller failure
• The entire array is not accessible but however, the controller seems to be working properly

The symptoms one can notice if one of the member disks of RAID 5 array has failed are:

• The LED light corresponding to the damaged RAID disk turns red
• RAID 5 controlling software or its drivers display the message that the hard disk has failed
• You are not able to access data from it or there is a malfunction in it

In all such situations, all one needs to do is to swap a failed disk with a new one and start RAID rebuild.

Since RAID 5 type arrangement is capable of surviving single member disk failure, for multiple hard disk failures it becomes impossible to recover contents that were stored on the damaged disks. However, you can try and recover data that is stored on the remaining normally functioning disks.

Data can be restored from RAID 5 disks in the following situations:

• Files are stored on the functioning disk and the file size is less than the block size
• The data occupies several consequent blocks which are located on the functioning disks
• Other RAID 5 disk failures that are not linked with the member disks

Recovering data from failed RAID 5 disks:

In the RAID 5 failures which include operator problems, device controller failures or RAID 5 software failures, only the data is lost but the member RAID disks are working normally. In such cases, it is possible to retrieve data from a failed RAID 5. In order to be able to do that, you should determine the RAID 5 array configuration specifications and then restore data from it by making use of a powerful and reliable partition recovery software such as Remo Recover.

Here are the inclusions of RAID 5 configuration:

• Number of member RAID disks and their block size
• The order in which Disks are arranged along with all array details
• Start offset on the RAID disks and parity position

Performing RAID 5 failed disk recovery using Remo Recover:

Remo Recover is a renowned application for restoring data from failed RAID 5 disks effectively and reliably. By using this tool, you get the simple step by step instructions with their respective screen-snaps that will enable you easily retrieve data from failed RAID 5 disks without any technical help. Beside this, it even helps you to execute NAS data recovery from RAID 1 hard disk in order to recover missing data. Just download the software and install it on your computer to begin performing data recovery.

Steps to recover data from failed RAID 5 disk using Remo Recover:

Step 1: Download and install the free version of Remo Recover program on your PC and open the program. Select “Recover Partitions” option from the main screen. Then, it shows all the logical and physical disks available in the system. Choose the RAID 5 disk and click "Scan" button

Figure A: Main Screen

Step 2: Now the tool scans the RAID5 disk and locates all its partitions with their file systems. Choose the required RAID partition and click "Scan" button to start recovering your files

Figure B: Choose the RAID 5 PArtition

Step 3: Once it finishes the scanning and recovery process, it displays the recovered files in two views "Data View", and "File Type View"

Figure C: Recovered Data View

Step 4: At the end of the successful recovery process, you can preview the recovered files by right clicking on the file and selecting Preview from the displayed options. as illustrated in figure 4.

Figure D: Preview Recovered Files

Step 5: At last, if you are happy with the recovery results of the software, buy the complete version and save the recovered files at the location of your choice, as the demo version doesn't allow to save the files

Figure E: Save Recovered Data