How to Recover a NAS Buffalo Drive Station HD-WL2TSU2R1 RAID Array with Several Damaged Drives

Contents

• Why can’t ordinary software tools restore files from RAID?
• How to take hard disks out of the NAS and connect them to a PC?
  • Restoring data with Hetman RAID Recovery
  • Safe recovery from disk images
  • Where are user’s files stored?
  • Comparison of software for RAID recovery

Why can’t ordinary software tools restore files from RAID?

Conventional hard disks keep user’s data by writing it to their surface in a consecutive way, and this is how an entire file is stored on a single hard disk. However, when data is written to a RAID system, a file is divided into several parts. Then these parts are written consecutively to all hard disks within such array. The size of such parts may range from 2 KB to 2 MB, so each file is stored on several hard disks at the same time.

Such approach helps to speed up read and write operations, and it is evident that saving two parts of a file having the size of 1 GB to two hard disks simultaneously is much faster than saving the same 1 GB of data to one hard disk. However, this peculiarity makes file recovery more complicated.

Various RAID levels store information in different ways. Additionally, manufacturers like Buffalo also introduce some modifications to this process, and that is why data can be written to hard disk in a wide variety of ways.

How can regular system monitoring and alerting help in early detection and prevention of data loss events on NAS Buffalo Drive Station HD-WL2TSU2R1 devices?

Regular system monitoring and alerting can help in early detection and prevention of data loss events on NAS Buffalo DriveStation HD-WL2TSU2R1 devices in the following ways:

1. Real-time Monitoring: By monitoring the system regularly, you can keep track of the NAS device's performance, storage capacity, and network connectivity. Any abnormal behavior or performance degradation can be detected promptly.
2. Disk Health Monitoring: Monitoring the health of the NAS hard drives is crucial. Regular monitoring can help identify early signs of drive failure, such as high read/write error rates, increased spin-up time, or bad sectors. Alerting mechanisms can notify administrators when these indicators exceed predefined thresholds, allowing for timely action.
3. RAID Monitoring: If the NAS device is configured with RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks), monitoring the RAID status is essential. Regularly checking the RAID array's health can identify degraded or failed drives, ensuring data redundancy and preventing data loss.
4. Backup Monitoring: Monitoring the backup process is critical to ensure that data is being regularly backed up from the NAS device to an external storage location. Alerts can be set up to notify administrators if backups fail or if they haven't been performed within a specified timeframe.
5. Security Monitoring: Regular monitoring can help detect any unauthorized access attempts or suspicious activities on the NAS device. This can include failed login attempts, unusual network traffic patterns, or unexpected file modifications. Early detection of security breaches can prevent data loss due to unauthorized access.
6. Firmware and Software Updates: Monitoring for available firmware and software updates is essential to keep the NAS device protected against known vulnerabilities. Regularly checking for updates and promptly applying them can prevent potential security breaches that could lead to data loss.
7. Environmental Monitoring: Monitoring the temperature and humidity levels in the environment where the NAS device is located can help prevent data loss due to hardware failures caused by unfavorable conditions. Alerts can be set up to notify administrators if the temperature or humidity exceeds safe limits.

By implementing regular system monitoring and alerting practices, administrators can proactively identify potential issues, take preventive measures, and minimize the risk of data loss events on NAS Buffalo DriveStation HD-WL2TSU2R1 devices.

How to take hard disks out of the NAS and connect them to a PC?

Although NAS Drive Station HD-WL2TSU2R1 can be accessed over the network, you still need to take the hard disks out of the storage device and connect them to a Windows computer. Only in this case will the software be able to scan them properly. Here is what you should do:

1. Turn off the storage and disconnect it from the power supply.

   WARNING! Before you start taking hard disks out of your NAS device, read the manual carefully. Incorrect actions may damage your network-attached storage and/or the hard disks within the RAID system.

2. Take the hard disks out of the NAS one by one, carefully removing them from their slots. Remember that the disks are extremely vulnerable: hitting or dropping them may result in serious physical damage.

3. Make sure to mark each hard disk in accordance with how they were installed inside the NAS.

4. Remove the hard disks and connect them to the computer. In this video, we have explored what ports are used to connect hard disks, and what to do if there are not enough ports or connectors.

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   How to Order Remote Data Recovery

Restoring data with Hetman RAID Recovery

This program recovers data from damaged RAID arrays and is fully compatible with Buffalo Drive Station HD-WL2TSU2R1. The hard disks that make up the RAID contain technical information about the algorithm used to save files. When launched, Hetman RAID Recovery reads this information and puts the damaged array together. Then you can open the disk and save your files. Also, you can recover the files accidentally deleted from the network drive.

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How to recover data from a Buffalo

Drive Station HD-WL2TSU2R1 has 1 HDD slots, and it supports the following array types:

• RAID 0;
• RAID 1;
• JBOD;

NAS supports:

• exFAT, VFAT, FAT 12 / 16 / 32;
• NTFS / ReFS;
• APFS / HFS+;
• Ext2 / 3 / 4 / ReiserFS / XFS / UFS / ZFS / Btrfs;
• VMFS / HikvisionFS;

Safe recovery from disk images

This utility lets you save an entire copy of the disk to file and then work with this image instead of the actual disk. Such feature helps to protect data on the disk from:

• Overwriting during the recovery process;
• Loss resulting from bad sectors;
• User mistakes.

To create an image, do the following:

1. Make sure that you have enough free space to save the image. The image file size usually equals the disk size.

2. Select the disk in the main window, and choose from the menu Tools – Save Disk. You can select multiple disks to be saved.

3. When the image creation wizard starts, you can choose to save the entire disk or select only a part of it. Specify the parameters and click Next.

   

4. At this stage, you need to choose a directory where to save the image. Choose any disk connected to this PC, or save the image by FTP.

   

Where are user’s files stored?

The Buffalo Drive Station HD-WL2TSU2R1 network-attached storage keeps OS Linux operating system files on a separate RAID 1 (mirrored) array. Usually, all NAS systems create several volumes on every hard disk, and the first of them takes up to 2 Gb of space. This is where operating system files are stored. Other volumes are united into a RAID array where user’s data is written.

Comparison of software for RAID recovery