Hello everybody!
Watch this video to find out how to recover data from hard disks within an X-RAID array
based on a NetGear NAS device.
You will also learn how to enable FTP protocol and configure a shared folder
in ReadyNAS.
In this NetGear device known as ReadyNAS, the disks which are connected and used to
store data are automatically combined into an X-RAID disk array.
This technology can automatically take all the disk capacity which is not currently in
use and make it redundant regardless of the size and type of disks combined this way.
All server functionality is managed by a Linux-based operating system, known as NAS OS for NETGEAR.
All NETGEAR devices can be classified into two groups.
The first group comprises devices produced before 2013 and managed by NAS OS version
5 or lower.
In these devices, the data storage scheme looks like this: disks are divided into partitions
which are then combined into a RAID system with the md technology, and then md arrays
are combined into a unified LVM volume.
As to the file system, such configurations tend to use EXT.
The second group includes devices using NAS OS 6 and produced in 2013 or later.
These modern NETGEAR storage systems treat data differently.
Yes, their hard disks are still combined into a RAID system with the md technology, but
the next level is the BTRFS file system, instead of LVM.
Just as any other storage device, such systems may suffer from breakdowns, hardware and software
failures.
That is why when choosing a data recovery tool to restore data from disk arrays based
on ReadyNAS, you should know if that tool supports the file system used with the specific
network drive, depending on the type of the storage device.
Any changes you make to the RAID level of your ReadyNAS volume will erase all data.
This is why, before changing the RAID level or modifying other settings - which may potentially
erase the disks - it is crucial to have a backup copy of important information and keep
it on another hard disk to prevent data loss.
If some information was accidentally deleted, hard disks were formatted, or the storage
device was damaged - in all of these cases, you’ll need a specialized software product
to recover your data.
In today’s video, I’ll also show you how to choose a suitable tool for the job.
What is X-RAID For starters, let’s explore this X-RAID
technology to get a basic understanding of how it works before we choose a recovery tool
and start using it.
X-RAID is an auto-expandable RAID technology that is available only on ReadyNAS systems.
With X-RAID, you do not need to know intricate details about RAID to administer your system.
X-RAID allows you to add storage space without reformatting your drives or moving your data
to another location.
Because the expansion happens online, you can continue to use your ReadyNAS system while
the volume capacity increases.
Because X-RAID is a single-volume architecture, if you configure your hard disk drives to
use X-RAID, your storage system has only one volume that is made up of all installed hard
disk drives.
X-RAID's single-volume architecture has two major advantages: easy system management and
auto-expansion.
If you replace existing disks with larger-capacity disks, X-RAID automatically accommodates the
new disks.
With X-RAID, you can configure the system with one hard disk, add a second disk for
data protection, and add more disks later for additional storage capacity.
Keep in mind, though, that X-RAID requires a minimum of two hard disks to provide protection
against disk failure.
This RAID type uses the capacity of one disk for data storage and reserves the capacity
of a second disk for data protection, which allows the volume to recreate data if a disk
fails.
(In a two-disk system, the usable storage space is one disk.
In a three-disk system, the usable storage space is two disks.)
In general, the total capacity of your storage system equals the capacity of all your disks
minus the capacity of one disk.
In this picture on the screen, you can see how X-RAID uses new disks.
The first disk that you install is used for initial (unprotected) storage space.
The second disk that you install is reserved for data protection (parity information).
Installing additional disks increases your storage space.
Although you can reuse the physical disk from another system to add capacity, any existing
data on the disk must be removed before the disk can be added to the X-RAID volume.
If there is any important data on that disk, remember to copy it to another storage device
before proceeding.
How to enable FTP network protocol for ReadyNAS Now that we know what X-RAID is, the disk
array is built automatically, so we can go on to find out how to configure network access
to the drive.
Start by opening the Services tab - Standard file protocols.
To enable FTP protocol, check the box next to the option and click to apply it.
Now that FTP is active, we can connect to the server, add a shared folder and configure
network access.
How to add a shared folder To add a new shared folder, choose the Shared
tab - click Add shared resources.
Give the folder name, add description and password if necessary, then click to apply
the changes.
Now that the shared folder is ready, let’s configure network access to this directory.
The directory is added with default access.
To configure access to a shared resource, go to the page "List of shared resources."
Next to the new folder, click on the network protocol that needs to be enabled.
After that, modify the default access type - only for reading, or Read / Write - and
click Apply.
Network access is active, so now you can connect to the server by FTP and write some information
to the disk.
Unfortunately, this NAS device doesn't have a recycle bin feature for shared folders,
so if something gets removed accidentally, there is no way to restore it...until you
get to use Hetman RAID Recovery!
How to recover data from X-RAID NETGEAR Hardware and software failures, wrong configuration,
accidental removal or formatting may cause a major data loss from the disk storage inside
your NAS device.
In any of these situations, you’ll need a reliable tool to get your information back.
Not all recovery software products support this RAID type, so you have to keep this aspect
in mind when choosing which tool to use.
Also, most programs supporting X-RAID are designed in such a way that they don’t find
much data if one of the disks in the array was damaged.
On the other hand, Hetman RAID Recovery is a comprehensive solution for NAS data recovery
to help you restore your files in many different scenarios including;
• hardware and software failures; • wrong configuration;
• accidentally removed files; • disk formatting and so on.
This program supports the most popular file systems including those used in NAS devices
and all popular RAID types including X-RAID.
It can build an X-RAID system even if one disk is missing and still let you recover
all the data you need.
Bear in mind that before starting data recovery operations, you should prepare some free disk
space with a capacity equal to the amount of data you're planning to recover from your
disk array.
Take the disks out of the NAS device and connect them to a Windows computer.
Make sure that all disks are recognized by the Windows-integrated Disk Management utility.
Right-click on the Start menu and select Disk Management.
If you are suggested to initialize the disks, don’t agree - this can erase the remaining
data.
If you are trying to recover data from a disk array, and the motherboard of the computer
where you want to connect the disks doesn't have enough SATA ports for all those hard
disks, you can connect all but one disk, because this RAID type remains operable even if one
of the disks is missing; as we remember, one of the disks is used to store parity information
for others.
Install and run Hetman RAID Recovery.
As I said before, here is how information is distributed across the disks.
The first disk contains the operating system and data, the second one is a parity disk,
and all other disks will expand the storage space for the first disk.
At the beginning of the disk, you have service data, then the data partition, and these partitions
are combined into a spanned JBOD volume which is displayed in this program as a local hard
disk.
Here are the disks, each beginning with dedicated space for service data, followed by data partitions,
and some reserved free space.
Here is the second disk containing parity data, and two additional hard disks.
And below, there is our network drive, a spanned volume consisting of four disks.
If the program manages to identify it properly, you will see its capacity and file system
type displayed here.
To illustrate how the program works, I deliberately excluded the first disk, as this RAID type
is based on JBOD, so all information is primarily written to the first disk until it’s full,
and only then to other disks you have in this array.
In the case with a missing disk, the program is supposed to read the parity disk, and then
build and display the restored disk array.
To search for information, right-click on the disk and choose “Open.”
Select the scan type and start the analysis.
The program will analyze the disks and display their contents when the operation is complete.
As you can see, it has found all the data stored on the network drive; and in the case
with X-RAID11 the data is intact even though one disk is missing.
If you are looking for files that have been removed, you can identify them by red crosses.
Select the files you want to recover, click Recovery, select where you want to save them,
and click Recovery again.
When the recovery process is over, you’ll find all of the files in the folder you have
chosen.
It is important to remember, however, that if such disk array suffers damage to more
than one disk, you won’t be able to recover all the data, most files will either be damaged
or unavailable for preview and recovery.
That is all for now!
Hopefully, this video was useful.
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Thank you for watching.
Good luck.