RAID recovery by Ontrack at all levels

Written By: Ontrack

Date Published: August 04, 2023

RAID recovery by Ontrack at all levels

layers-of-raid-data-loss

Data loss can occur at different levels. Because of the vast amount of experience and patented technology gathered by our global team of data recovery experts, Ontrack is able to perform data recovery at all levels.

The first level of data loss begins with the storage medium. This can be a single hard drive or RAID storage with multiple drives (DAS, NAS, SAN). In a recovery for a loss at this level, Ontrack's engineers secure as much RAW data as possible. A copy is made of the working disks and in a clean room our engineers work on the electronics and mechanics to get any defective media operational again, so that the RAW data can be copied. With self-developed and patented tools, the RAID controller is imitated. This can be done even for the complex SAN systems that often lay their own block distribution over a combined RAID system, thus making the lost data visible again.

The second level of data loss can begin at a file system level. This can occur if 100% of the RAW data could not be copied from the drives or if that data is damaged. The (virtual) file system is a unique method of storing and organizing system and user files. The operating system controls the file system. If the information about where the files are located on the volume is damaged or lost, Ontrack experts will make adjustments or repairs at a file system level. Once the file system is restored, the data can be accessed again.

Most operating systems have a utility that automatically performs repairs. However, this can permanently damage the data. Always work with a copy. With virtual systems, there is additional complexity due to the combination of the virtual file system and the file systems running within the virtual machines.

The third level of data loss can occur within the file itself, such as SQL, Oracle and Exchange database files. These files can be quite complex. The internal structure can become corrupted to the point where the DBMS makes the database unavailable.

Ontrack has a lot of experience at all these levels and configurations  (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10...), with many complex data recoveries performed.

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