Hello everybody!
Watch this video to find out how to recover data from a hardware RAID based on a motherboard
controller, how to replace a hard disk, and what to do if the motherboard in your computer
has failed.
RAID
systems are widely used all over the world as they offer a considerable performance boost
and improve resilience.
Many users choose RAID to ensure higher data safety for important files.
All that being said, loss of data from a RAID system is something that we can’t absolutely
exclude.
It may happen due to several factors, such as power failure, unexpected shutdown, hardware
failure, administrator’s error and so on.
Regardless of what happened and finally caused the loss of data from a RAID system, the first
question to answer is how can we recover information from such a disk array.
Let’s find out what to do in each of these cases: if the motherboard you have used to
build a RAID system is down, if you have chosen the wrong disks when configuring or creating
a disk array, and if you have removed a disk array by accident.
How to replace a faulty hard disk If one of the disks within the array is out
of order, the RAID status information will be displayed before booting the operating
system, and you’ll see that the array is degraded, which means it’s damaged.
In my case, this is RAID 5.
To replace the faulty disk with a new, healthy one open the Intel Rapid Storage Technology
menu.
Do it by pressing the key shortcut Ctrl+I while the computer is booting.
You will see the list of all your disks, and you can tell which of them is down by checking
their serial numbers.
Shut down the computer and disconnect that disk.
After that, connect a healthy disk instead, and turn on the computer.
Open the Intel RST menu, and you’ll be suggested to repair the damaged array by adding a new
disk for rebuilding.
Select a disk, press Enter, and the RAID status will change into Rebuild.
Below, you’ll see a message saying that volumes with “Rebuild” status will be
rebuilt in the operating system.
Select point 6 in the menu above to exit and boot the operating system.
If the wrong disk was excluded from the RAID system.
Reset Disk to Non-RAID If you have accidentally chosen the wrong
disk for rebuilding or excluded disks from a RAID array, such disk will be damaged and
all the information stored on it will become inaccessible as soon as the operating system
boots.
Use Hetman RAID Recovery to extract data from the damaged array.
It is capable of restoring data from inoperable RAID systems or from disks that were used
to build a RAID.
It can read all the information about the motherboard used to create the disk array,
and then rebuild the damaged RAID system to copy all important data from there.
As you can see, the program has identified the properties of a damaged RAID system, rebuilt
it automatically and now it is displaying the detailed array information at the bottom
of the window.
Before you start the recovery process, make sure you have a disk with the same or larger
capacity than the amount of data you’re going to recover.
Right-click on the array and start “Fast scan.”
The program has found and displayed all the remaining data.
Now select the files you want to restore, click Recovery, specify the directory where
you’d like to save the data, and click Recovery again.
When the recovery process is complete, you’ll see all the files in the specified folder.
If the “Fast scan” can’t find the missing files, then go for “Full analysis.”
This is going to take much longer, but in the end, you’ll be able to see all the information
still remaining on the disks, including the files that have been deleted.
What to do if the motherboard fails In case of a hardware failure when the motherboard
breaks down, you may choose to connect the drives to another computer, but accessing
the information without specialized data recovery software is hardly possible because another
operating system won’t be able to identify that the drives have been used to build a
RAID storage system.
In the Disk Management window, you’ll be suggested to initialize or format them for
further use.
No matter what, don’t agree to anything - this can erase the remaining data.
Instead, use our utility to rebuild the lost disk array automatically using the available
drives.
After that, scan the array and recover the files you are looking for.
Accidental removal of a RAID system in the Intel Rapid Storage Technology menu.
Delete RAID Volume Hetman RAID Recovery will help you recover
data even if your RAID system is completely removed in the Intel RST menu.
As you can see, even in this scenario the program was able to identify the type of the
damaged array and rebuild it automatically.
All you have to do now is to scan it and restore the data you need.
If the program fails to rebuild the damaged array automatically, use the RAID Constructor.
Select “Manual Mode” and click “Next,” then specify all the information you know
about the lost disk array.
RAID type, the order and size of the blocks it used to consist of, select them from the
list and specify the order.
Fill the missing space with empty disks.
After all the settings are complete, click “Add” and it will appear in the Drive
Manager immediately.
Scan the array and recover the files you are looking for.
RAID 5 remains operable if one disk fails, but with two disks down, the array becomes
completely inoperable and there is no way to access the information from such a storage
system.
However, with Hetman RAID Recovery you’ll be able to recover information from an array
lacking two or even more disks, but a part of that data will be damaged.
After all, any RAID type is vulnerable to damage and may fail due to a variety of reasons.
That is why it is crucial to have a backup copy of the data so that all your files can
be recovered without affecting the workflow.
Yet if things go from bad to worse, Hetman RAID Recovery comes to the rescue with a bundle
of features to make data recovery from faulty, damaged or formatted disk arrays simpler and
easier than before, and it supports all popular RAID formats.
With this tool, your lost data will be back without a sweat.
That is all for now!
Hopefully, this video was useful.
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Thank you for watching.
Good luck.