Professional Insights for Recovering NAS Infortrend EonStor GSi 5016GT Data from RAID Arrays

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 Infortrend 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 disk health monitoring and analysis help in preventing potential data loss on NAS Infortrend EonStor GSi 5016GT devices?

Regular disk health monitoring and analysis can help in preventing potential data loss on NAS Infortrend EonStor GSi 5016GT devices in the following ways:

1. Early detection of disk failures: By regularly monitoring the health of disks, you can identify any signs of impending disk failures such as bad sectors, increased read/write errors, or abnormal temperature readings. This allows you to proactively replace the failing disks before they completely fail and cause data loss.
2. Predictive analysis: Disk health monitoring tools often provide predictive analysis based on historical data and SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) attributes. These analyses can help identify patterns or trends that may indicate potential issues with the disks. By acting upon these predictions, you can prevent data loss by replacing the disks in a timely manner.
3. RAID array monitoring: NAS devices like Infortrend EonStor GSi 5016GT typically use RAID configurations for data redundancy and protection. Regular disk health monitoring allows you to monitor the status of RAID arrays, ensuring that all disks are functioning properly and no disks have been dropped from the array. If any issues are detected, you can take immediate action to rebuild the array or replace the failed disks to prevent data loss.
4. Proactive maintenance: Disk health monitoring provides valuable insights into the overall health and performance of the disks. By regularly analyzing this data, you can identify any potential performance degradation, high disk utilization, or other anomalies that may lead to data loss. Proactive maintenance, such as optimizing disk configurations, defragmenting disks, or reallocating storage space, can help prevent data loss by ensuring the disks are functioning optimally.
5. Data backup and recovery: Disk health monitoring can also help in ensuring the effectiveness of your data backup and recovery strategies. By monitoring the health of the disks, you can verify the integrity of the backup data and identify any potential issues that may affect the recoverability of the data. This allows you to take corrective actions to fix any backup-related problems before data loss occurs.

Overall, regular disk health monitoring and analysis provide valuable insights into the health, performance, and reliability of disks in NAS devices. By acting upon the information provided by these monitoring tools, you can proactively prevent potential data loss and ensure the continuous availability of your data.

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

Although NAS EonStor GSi 5016GT 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 Infortrend EonStor GSi 5016GT. 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 Infortrend

EonStor GSi 5016GT 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 Infortrend EonStor GSi 5016GT 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