NAS Digiever DS-8249-SRM Pro+ Data Recovery Techniques: RAID Array Focus

Contents

• Why Regular Data Recovery Tools Can’t Restore Files from RAID
• Key Information About the NAS Digiever DS-8249-SRM Pro+
• How to Remove Hard Disks from Your NAS and Connect Them to a PC
  • Step-by-Step Data Recovery with Hetman RAID Recovery
  • How to Safely Recover Data from Disk Images
  • Where Are the User’s Files Actually Stored?
  • RAID Recovery Software: Detailed Comparison

Why Regular Data Recovery Tools Can’t Restore Files from RAID

Conventional hard drives store user data by writing it sequentially across the disk surface, which means an entire file is typically located on a single drive. In contrast, when data is written to a RAID array, each file is split into multiple fragments. These fragments are then distributed and written in sequence across all the drives in the array. Depending on the configuration, fragment sizes can range from 2 KB to 2 MB, so every file is physically stored across several disks at once.

This approach significantly increases read and write performance — after all, writing two halves of a 1 GB file to two drives simultaneously is much faster than writing the full 1 GB to a single disk. However, this same mechanism makes file recovery far more complex.

Different RAID levels use different methods to distribute and protect data. On top of that, manufacturers like Digiever often add their own proprietary structures and variations. As a result, data can be written to disks in many different formats, and each requires a specific approach during recovery.

How can data redundancy techniques such as mirroring or replication enhance data availability and protect against loss on NAS Digiever DS-8249-SRM Pro+ devices?

Data redundancy techniques such as mirroring or replication can enhance data availability and protect against loss on NAS Digiever DS-8249-SRM Pro+ devices in the following ways:

1. Mirroring: Mirroring involves creating an exact copy of data on multiple storage devices simultaneously. In the case of Digiever DS-8249-SRM Pro+, you can configure RAID 1 or RAID 10 to mirror data across multiple hard drives. This ensures that if one drive fails, the mirrored drive(s) will have a duplicate copy of the data, ensuring high availability and protection against data loss.
2. Replication: Replication involves creating and maintaining multiple copies of data across different NAS devices or locations. Digiever DS-8249-SRM Pro+ supports remote replication, allowing you to replicate data to another NAS device in a different physical location. This protects against data loss due to disasters, theft, or other local issues. In case one NAS device becomes unavailable, the replicated data on the remote device can be accessed, ensuring continuous availability.
3. High availability clustering: Digiever DS-8249-SRM Pro+ supports high availability clustering, where multiple NAS devices are connected together to act as a single logical unit. This clustering ensures that if one device fails, another device takes over seamlessly, minimizing downtime and ensuring uninterrupted access to data.
4. Snapshot and backup: Digiever DS-8249-SRM Pro+ allows you to take snapshots of your data at regular intervals. Snapshots capture the state of the data at a particular point in time and can be used to restore data in case of accidental deletion, corruption, or other data loss events. Additionally, it is crucial to regularly back up your data to an external storage device or cloud storage to protect against catastrophic events or hardware failures.

By implementing these data redundancy techniques, Digiever DS-8249-SRM Pro+ devices can significantly enhance data availability, protect against data loss, and ensure uninterrupted access to critical data.

How to Remove Hard Disks from Your NAS and Connect Them to a PC

Although the NAS DS-8249-SRM Pro+ can be accessed over the network, you still need to remove its hard disks and connect them directly to a Windows PC. Only then can the recovery software properly scan and analyze the drives. Follow these steps:

1. Power off the NAS and disconnect it from the power source.

   WARNING! Before removing any drives, carefully read the device manual. Improper actions may damage both the NAS enclosure and the hard disks in the RAID array.

2. Remove the hard disks one by one, gently sliding each drive out of its slot. Remember that hard disks are highly sensitive: any impact or drop can cause serious physical damage.

3. Label each hard disk according to its position inside the NAS. The order of the drives is crucial for correct RAID reconstruction.

4. Connect the drives to your computer. In this video, we explain which ports you can use to connect hard disks and what to do if your PC does not have enough free connectors.

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   How to Order Remote Data Recovery

Step-by-Step Data Recovery with Hetman RAID Recovery

This program restores data from damaged RAID arrays and is fully compatible with Digiever DS-8249-SRM Pro+. Each hard disk in the array contains technical metadata describing how files were written. When launched, Hetman RAID Recovery analyzes this metadata, automatically reconstructs the damaged array, and provides access to its contents. After that, you can browse the recovered disk and save your files. The program can also restore files that were accidentally deleted from the network drive.

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How to recover data from a Digiever

DS-8249-SRM Pro+ has 8 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;

How to Safely Recover Data from Disk Images

This utility allows you to create a complete copy of a disk and work with the disk image instead of the physical drive. This approach helps protect your data from:

• Overwriting during the recovery process;
• Additional data loss caused by bad sectors;
• User errors.

To create a disk image, follow these steps:

1. Ensure you have enough free space to store the image. Its size will typically match the size of the original disk.

2. In the main window, select the target disk and choose Tools - Save Disk. You can also select multiple disks if needed.

3. When the Image Creation Wizard opens, select whether you want to save the entire disk or only a specific region. Adjust the settings and click Next.

   

4. Choose the directory where the image will be saved. You may select any available disk connected to your PC or upload the image via FTP.

   

Where Are the User’s Files Actually Stored?

The Digiever DS-8249-SRM 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.

RAID Recovery Software: Detailed Comparison