Practical Steps for Accessing RAID Disk Files When NAS Promise VTrak J5910s is Not Working

Contents

• Why Regular Data Recovery Tools Can’t Restore Files from RAID
• Key Information About the NAS Promise VTrak J5910s
• 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 Promise 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 regular performance monitoring and optimization help in preventing data loss on NAS Promise VTrak J5910s devices?

Regular performance monitoring and optimization can help in preventing data loss on NAS Promise VTrak J5910s devices in several ways:

1. Early detection of issues: Performance monitoring allows you to identify any performance degradation or anomalies in the NAS device. By regularly monitoring performance metrics such as I/O throughput, latency, and error rates, you can detect potential issues before they escalate and cause data loss.
2. Proactive maintenance: Optimization techniques like load balancing, cache tuning, and RAID configuration optimization can help ensure that the NAS device is functioning optimally. Regular monitoring helps you identify areas that need improvement and allows you to proactively address them, reducing the risk of data loss due to hardware or software failures.
3. Capacity planning: Monitoring the storage capacity utilization of the NAS device helps you anticipate when the storage is nearing its limit. By regularly assessing storage usage trends and planning for additional capacity in advance, you can prevent data loss due to insufficient storage space.
4. Backup and replication monitoring: Regular monitoring of backup and replication processes ensures that critical data is being properly backed up and replicated to secondary storage or off-site locations. This helps safeguard against data loss caused by accidental deletion, hardware failures, or natural disasters.
5. Identifying security vulnerabilities: Performance monitoring can also help identify any security vulnerabilities or suspicious activities on the NAS device. By monitoring network traffic, access logs, and authentication attempts, you can detect and mitigate potential security breaches that could result in data loss or unauthorized access.

In summary, regular performance monitoring and optimization of NAS Promise VTrak J5910s devices help in early detection of issues, proactive maintenance, capacity planning, backup and replication monitoring, and identifying security vulnerabilities, all of which contribute to preventing data loss.

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

Although the NAS VTrak J5910s 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.

   Go to view

   

   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 Promise VTrak J5910s. 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.

Go to view

How to recover data from a Promise

VTrak J5910s has 60 HDD slots, and it supports the following array types:

• RAID 0;
• RAID 1;
• RAID 1E;
• RAID 3;
• RAID 5;
• RAID 6;
• RAID 30;
• 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 Promise VTrak J5910s 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