NAS Digiever DS-165112-RM Pro+ Data Recovery Essentials: RAID Array Tips

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 Digiever 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 conducting regular backups on external storage devices mitigate data loss risks for NAS Digiever DS-165112-RM Pro+ devices?

Conducting regular backups on external storage devices can mitigate data loss risks for NAS Digiever DS-165112-RM Pro+ devices in the following ways:

1. Redundancy: By backing up data on external storage devices, you create redundancy, ensuring that even if the primary NAS device fails or data is lost, you have a secondary copy available.
2. Protection against hardware failure: NAS devices can experience hardware failures, such as hard drive crashes. Regular backups on external storage devices provide an additional layer of protection against such failures, allowing you to restore data from the backups.
3. Protection against data corruption: Data corruption can occur due to various reasons, including software bugs, malware, or power outages. By backing up your data regularly, you can safeguard against data corruption and restore a clean copy from the backups.
4. Disaster recovery: In case of a catastrophic event like fire, flood, or theft, having backups stored on external devices ensures that your data remains safe and can be restored to a new NAS device or another location.
5. Version control and accidental deletion: Regular backups allow you to maintain multiple versions of your data. In case of accidental deletion or overwriting of files, you can retrieve previous versions from the backups.

To ensure effective backup practices for NAS Digiever DS-165112-RM Pro+ devices, consider the following tips:

a. Use reliable external storage devices: Invest in high-quality external hard drives or network-attached storage (NAS) devices for backups that offer sufficient capacity and reliability.

b. Automate backup processes: Schedule regular backups using built-in backup software or third-party backup solutions. Automation reduces the risk of human error and ensures backups are performed consistently.

c. Implement an off-site backup strategy: Store backups in a separate physical location or leverage cloud storage services to protect against physical damage or theft of both the NAS device and the backup.

d. Test backup integrity: Periodically verify the integrity of your backups by restoring files from them to ensure they are complete and usable.

e. Consider incremental or differential backups: To optimize storage space and backup time, utilize incremental or differential backup methods that only store changes made since the last backup, rather than duplicating entire datasets.

By implementing these backup practices, you can significantly mitigate data loss risks for NAS Digiever DS-165112-RM Pro+ devices and ensure the safety and availability of your valuable data.

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

Although NAS DS-165112-RM Pro+ 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.

   Go to view

   

   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 Digiever DS-165112-RM Pro+. 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.

Go to view

How to recover data from a Digiever

DS-165112-RM Pro+ has 16 HDD slots, and it supports the following array types:

• RAID 0;
• RAID 1;
• RAID 5;
• RAID 6;
• RAID 50;
• RAID 60;
• 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 Digiever DS-165112-RM Pro+ 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