How to recover data from QNAP TVS-672N NAS

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 QNAP 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 QNAP TVS-672N devices?

Regular disk health monitoring and analysis can help in preventing potential data loss on NAS QNAP TVS-672N devices in the following ways:

1. Early detection of disk failures: By monitoring the health of individual disks in the NAS device, you can identify any signs of potential failures or issues. This allows you to take proactive measures such as replacing the failing disk before it completely fails and causes data loss.
2. RAID array maintenance: QNAP TVS-672N devices often use RAID configurations for data redundancy and protection. Regular disk health monitoring helps in identifying any degraded or failed disks within the RAID array. By replacing the failed disk and rebuilding the array promptly, you can prevent data loss.
3. SMART monitoring: SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) is a feature available in most modern hard drives. It constantly monitors various parameters of the disk, such as temperature, bad sectors, and read/write errors. By regularly analyzing the SMART data, you can anticipate potential disk failures and take necessary actions to prevent data loss.
4. Disk usage and capacity planning: Monitoring disk health also involves tracking disk usage and capacity. By analyzing the usage patterns and available capacity, you can plan for future storage requirements and ensure that your NAS device doesn't run out of space unexpectedly. This helps in preventing data loss due to insufficient storage.
5. Data backup and replication: Regular disk health monitoring can remind you to regularly back up your data and replicate it to remote locations or cloud storage. This ensures that even if a disk fails or data loss occurs, you have a recent backup to restore from.
6. Firmware and software updates: Disk health monitoring can also alert you to firmware or software updates released by QNAP. Keeping your NAS device up to date with the latest firmware and software patches helps in maintaining the overall health and security of the system, reducing the chances of data loss due to vulnerabilities or bugs.

In summary, regular disk health monitoring and analysis on NAS QNAP TVS-672N devices enable early detection of disk failures, proactive maintenance of RAID arrays, monitoring of SMART data, capacity planning, data backup, and replication, as well as staying up to date with firmware and software updates. All these measures collectively help in preventing potential data loss.

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

Although NAS TVS-672N 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 QNAP TVS-672N. 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 QNAP

TVS-672N has 6 HDD slots, and it supports the following array types:

• RAID 6;
• RAID 5;
• RAID 10;
• RAID 0;
• RAID 1;
• JBOD;

NAS supports:

• ZFS;
• EXT4;
• EXT3;
• exFAT;
• FAT32 (External Disk Only);
• NTFS (External Disk Only);
• HFS+ (External Disk Read Only);

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 QNAP TVS-672N network-attached storage keeps QTS (QuTS hero) 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