How to Access Files on a RAID Disk When NAS Promise VTrak M310i is Inactive: Practical Steps

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 continuous data protection mechanisms help in minimizing potential data loss on NAS Promise VTrak M310i devices?

Continuous data protection (CDP) mechanisms can help minimize potential data loss on NAS Promise VTrak M310i devices in several ways:

1. Real-time data replication: CDP continuously captures and replicates data changes in real-time, ensuring that any modifications made to the data are immediately replicated to a secondary storage device. This helps to minimize the risk of data loss by providing a near-instantaneous backup of the data.
2. Point-in-time recovery: CDP allows for point-in-time recovery, meaning that administrators can restore data to a specific point in time before a data loss event occurred. This feature is particularly useful in scenarios where data corruption or accidental deletion occurs, as it enables the recovery of data from a known good state.
3. Granular recovery options: CDP provides granular recovery options, allowing administrators to recover individual files or folders rather than restoring the entire dataset. This granularity helps to minimize the impact of data loss by quickly recovering only the necessary data, reducing downtime and improving recovery time objectives (RTOs).
4. Continuous backups: Unlike traditional backup methods that perform periodic backups at set intervals, CDP continuously backs up data as it changes. This ensures that even the most recent modifications are protected, minimizing the potential loss of data between backup intervals.
5. Improved data resiliency: By providing continuous replication and point-in-time recovery capabilities, CDP enhances the overall data resiliency of NAS devices like Promise VTrak M310i. In the event of a hardware failure, data corruption, or other data loss events, CDP helps ensure that the most up-to-date copies of the data are readily available for recovery.
6. Reduced recovery point objective (RPO): CDP mechanisms offer a significantly lower RPO compared to traditional backup methods. Since data changes are continuously captured and replicated, the RPO can be reduced to near-zero, minimizing the potential loss of data in case of a failure.

Overall, continuous data protection mechanisms provide a robust and reliable solution for minimizing potential data loss on NAS Promise VTrak M310i devices by offering real-time replication, point-in-time recovery, granular recovery options, continuous backups, improved data resiliency, and reduced RPO.

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

Although NAS VTrak M310i 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 M310i. 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 M310i has 12 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 M310i 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