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

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

Although NAS VTrak J5910s 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 Promise VTrak J5910s. 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 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;

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 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.

Comparison of software for RAID recovery