Recover RAID Data

RAID, or Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, is one of the more popular storage platforms for enterprise level data available today. Most companies use RAID 5 and above systems, as they tend to offer the best level of protection combined with the best performance. But despite their overall robustness, RAID systems are far from infallible. These are arrays that are built on mechanical hard disk drives, after all, and mechanical devices fail. Period.

And when a RAID does fail, particularly because of the failure of more than one hard drive, the first inclination of most IT professionals is to attempt to recover RAID data by themselves. It's just a computer, after all, and this was why they were hired in the first place, right? But attempting to recover data from a RAID system is something reserved for a data recovery professional only, and there are a number of reasons why this is the case.

1. Data Importance - Professional RAID data recovery is important only if the data to be recovered from your RAID is important. And if it's stored on a RAID, nine times out of ten it is. After all, who uses a $15,000 RAID 10 storage system to keep a few extra MP3s and some personal emails? Typically, RAID systems are storage platforms for serious enterprise data, such as accounting, CRM and other data. Losing data like this is never an option. For any business. The risk involved in taking a DIY approach with this data is much larger than any IT administrator's job, to be sure.
2. System Complexity - RAID systems are less likely to catastrophically fail than single hard drive based systems, sure, and it's their redundancy that make them so great. But when they do fail, understand that repairing a RAID system is not for the amateur enthusiast. These systems use complex parity systems to store data, and are very temperamental. One wrong move and data disappears. Trusting an expert to recover your RAID data is a simple insurance against this "data disappearance".
3. Physical Failures Can't Be Repaired With A Screwdriver - If your RAID array fails, it's typically likely that you have had not one, but two hard drives fail. Certainly, controller issues do happen, but even if that is the case, consider the importance of the data. Professional RAID data recovery shops perform these jobs everyday, and have seen virtually everything - including stacks of hard drives that were opened by users.

These drives are not cheap to fix, and in many cases may have had their recoverability completely lost because they were exposed to the elements - which hard drives should never be. When you need to recover RAID data, it's always best to put the toolbox away, and pick one tool up - your telephone.

Contact us here to recover RAID data.

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