How does RAID technology enhance the performance and data protection features of Thecus N4200PRO NAS?

RAID technology enhances the performance and data protection features of Thecus N4200PRO NAS in the following ways:Increased performance: RAID technology allows multiple hard drives to work together as a single unit, distributing data across the drives. This enables parallel data access and improves read and write speeds, resulting in faster overall performance.Data redundancy and protection: RAID provides data redundancy by creating copies of data across multiple drives. In the event of a drive failure, data can be reconstructed from the remaining drives, ensuring data integrity and preventing data loss. Thecus N4200PRO supports various RAID levels, including RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD, allowing users to choose the level of redundancy and protection they need.Hot-swappable drives: Thecus N4200PRO NAS supports hot-swappable drive bays, which means that failed drives can be replaced without shutting down the system. This feature minimizes downtime and allows for easy maintenance and drive replacement.RAID expansion and migration: Thecus N4200PRO NAS supports RAID expansion and migration, allowing users to add more drives or change RAID levels without losing data. This flexibility enables users to adapt their storage requirements over time without starting from scratch.Automatic data rebuilding: In the event of a drive failure, Thecus N4200PRO automatically rebuilds the data onto a replacement drive, ensuring that the system remains operational and data remains protected.Overall, RAID technology in Thecus N4200PRO NAS enhances performance by improving data access speeds and provides data protection through redundancy and automatic data rebuilding, ensuring that data remains safe and accessible even in the event of drive failures.

What are the different RAID levels supported by Thecus N4200PRO, and how do they affect the storage capacity and fault tolerance of the NAS?

The Thecus N4200PRO supports several RAID levels, including RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, and RAID 10. RAID 0: This level does not provide any fault tolerance but offers increased performance and storage capacity. It combines multiple drives into a single volume, spreading data across all drives. The storage capacity is the sum of all drives, but if one drive fails, all data is lost.RAID 1: This level provides mirroring, where data is duplicated on two drives. It offers fault tolerance as if one drive fails, the other drive still has a copy of all the data. However, storage capacity is reduced to half of the total drive capacity.RAID 5: This level uses striping with parity. It distributes data and parity information across multiple drives, providing fault tolerance. If one drive fails, the data can be reconstructed using the parity information stored on the remaining drives. Storage capacity is reduced by the capacity of one drive.RAID 6: Similar to RAID 5, RAID 6 also uses striping with double parity. It provides fault tolerance even if two drives fail simultaneously. Storage capacity is reduced by the capacity of two drives.RAID 10: This level combines mirroring and striping. It requires at least four drives and provides fault tolerance and increased performance. Data is mirrored across two sets of striped drives. If one drive fails in each set, the data can still be accessed. Storage capacity is reduced to half of the total drive capacity.In summary, RAID levels affect storage capacity and fault tolerance. Higher fault tolerance comes at the cost of reduced storage capacity. It is essential to choose the appropriate RAID level based on the desired balance between fault tolerance and storage capacity.

Can the Thecus N4200PRO NAS support hot-swapping and rebuilding of RAID arrays, and what are the advantages of these features in terms of maintaining uninterrupted data access and system reliability?

Yes, the Thecus N4200PRO NAS supports hot-swapping and rebuilding of RAID arrays. Hot-swapping refers to the ability to replace a failed or degraded hard drive in a RAID array without shutting down the system or interrupting data access. With hot-swapping, you can simply remove the faulty drive and insert a new one while the NAS is still running. This feature is particularly useful in business environments where continuous data access is crucial and any downtime can result in significant losses.Rebuilding of RAID arrays is the process of restoring the redundancy and data integrity of the array after a failed drive has been replaced. When a new drive is inserted, the NAS automatically starts the rebuilding process, which involves copying the data from the remaining drives onto the new drive to restore the redundancy. During the rebuilding process, the NAS remains operational, allowing users to access their data without interruption.The advantages of these features in terms of maintaining uninterrupted data access and system reliability are:Continuous Data Availability: Hot-swapping ensures that data remains accessible even when a drive fails. By replacing the faulty drive without shutting down the system, users can continue accessing their data without any interruption.Reduced Downtime: Hot-swapping and automatic RAID rebuilding help to minimize downtime. The NAS can immediately start rebuilding the array with the new drive, ensuring that the data is protected and available as soon as possible.Data Redundancy and Protection: RAID arrays provide data redundancy, which means that even if one drive fails, the data remains accessible from the remaining drives. Rebuilding the RAID array restores this redundancy and protects against data loss.System Reliability: By automatically rebuilding the RAID array, the Thecus N4200PRO NAS ensures the system remains reliable and operational. It reduces the risk of data loss and maintains the integrity of the stored data.Overall, hot-swapping and RAID rebuilding features in the Thecus N4200PRO NAS contribute to uninterrupted data access, reduced downtime, and enhanced system reliability, making it suitable for businesses and individuals who require high availability and data protection.

How to recover data from Thecus N4200PRO NAS

Name: How to recover data from a Thecus
Uploaded: 2023-09-14T07:59:23+03:00
Description: How to recover data from a Thecus

Is your network drive gone, and you are wondering what to do? Has a RAID system crashed, and your files are no longer accessible? Does your device display an error while booting? Have you accidentally rebuilt your RAID system? Are several hard disks out of order?

How to recover data from NAS Thecus N4200PRO

Data Recovery Tool

Thecus N4200PRO NAS Data Recovery in 2024

In this step-by-step tutorial, we’ll show you how to rebuild your RAID and recover data from N4200PRO.

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?

RAID Recovery™ 2.6

Recover data from damaged RAID arrays inaccessible from a computer.

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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 Thecus also introduce some modifications to this process, and that is why data can be written to hard disk in a wide variety of ways.

Can accidental deletion or user error cause data loss in NAS Thecus N4200PRO devices?

Yes, accidental deletion or user error can cause data loss in NAS Thecus N4200PRO devices. If a user accidentally deletes important files or folders, they may be permanently lost unless a backup is available. Similarly, if a user makes a mistake while configuring the NAS settings or performing firmware updates, it can lead to data loss. It is always recommended to have regular backups and exercise caution while managing data on NAS devices to prevent such incidents.

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

Although NAS N4200PRO 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:

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.
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.
Make sure to mark each hard disk in accordance with how they were installed inside the NAS.
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 Thecus N4200PRO. 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 Thecus

N4200PRO has 4 HDD slots, and it supports the following array types:

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

NAS supports:

EXT3;
EXT4;
XFS;

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:

Make sure that you have enough free space to save the image. The image file size usually equals the disk size.
Select the disk in the main window, and choose from the menu Tools – Save Disk. You can select multiple disks to be saved.
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.
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 Thecus N4200PRO 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

Product	Operating system	License type	RAID controller support	Supported file systems	Virtual RAID controller support	Data recovery from damaged RAID	File preview
Hetman RAID Recovery	Windows	Paid	Yes, over 100 controllers	FAT, NTFS, Ext2/3/4, HFS+	Yes	Yes	Yes
DiskInternals RAID Recovery	Windows	Paid	Yes, over 100 controllers	FAT, NTFS, Ext2/3/4, HFS+	No	Yes	Yes
R-Studio	Windows, Mac, Linux	Paid	Yes, over 200 controllers	FAT, NTFS, Ext2/3/4, HFS+	Yes	Yes	Yes
UFS Explorer RAID Recovery	Windows, Mac, Linux	Paid	Yes, over 1,000 controllers	FAT, NTFS, Ext2/3/4, HFS+	Yes	Yes	Yes
EaseUS Data Recovery	Windows	Paid	Yes, over 20 controllers	FAT, NTFS, Ext2/3/4, HFS+	No	Yes	Yes
ReclaiMe Free RAID Recovery	Windows	Free	Yes, over 100 controllers	FAT, NTFS, Ext2/3/4, HFS+	Yes	Yes	Yes

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We will be happy to answer your questions!

Comments (3)

Hetman Software: Data Recovery 9.08.2022 12:31 #

If you want to ask a question about data recovery, from NAS N4200PRO, feel free to leave a comment!

Reply
Perry Wheatley 14.09.2023 07:46 #

How can data recovery from a NAS Thecus N4200PRO device be prevented in the future?

Reply
- Hetman Software 14.09.2023 07:59 #
  To prevent data recovery from a NAS Thecus N4200PRO device in the future, you can take the following measures:
  Regularly back up your data: Implement a robust backup strategy to ensure that important data is regularly backed up to an external storage device or cloud storage. This way, even if the NAS fails or data gets corrupted, you can restore it from the backup.
  Use RAID configuration: Configure your NAS device in a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) setup. RAID provides data redundancy by distributing data across multiple hard drives, so if one drive fails, the data can be recovered from the other drives. The Thecus N4200PRO supports various RAID configurations like RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD.
  Enable data encryption: Enable encryption on your NAS device to protect the data stored on it. Encryption ensures that even if the drives are accessed or stolen, the data remains unreadable without the encryption key.
  Implement strong access controls: Set up strong usernames and passwords for accessing the NAS device. Restrict access to authorized users only and regularly update passwords to minimize the risk of unauthorized access.
  Keep the NAS firmware up to date: Regularly check for firmware updates provided by Thecus and apply them to your NAS device. Firmware updates often include security patches and bug fixes, which can enhance the overall security of the device.
  Implement network security measures: Secure your network by using firewalls, enabling network segmentation, and implementing intrusion detection systems. This helps prevent unauthorized access to your NAS device from external sources.
  Physical security: Ensure that the NAS device is physically secure by placing it in a locked room or cabinet. Limit physical access to authorized personnel only.
  Educate users: Train users on best practices for data security, such as avoiding suspicious email attachments, regularly updating antivirus software, and being cautious while accessing the NAS device remotely.
  By implementing these preventive measures, you can significantly reduce the risk of data recovery from a NAS Thecus N4200PRO device in the future.
  Reply

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Updated:
14.09.2023 7:59

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Author: Vladimir Artiukh, Technical Writer

Vladimir Artiukh is a technical writer for Hetman Software, as well as the voice and face of their English-speaking YouTube channel, Hetman Software: Data Recovery for Windows. He handles tutorials, how-tos, and detailed reviews on how the company’s tools work with all kinds of data storage devices.

Editor: Oleg Afonin, Technical Writer

Oleg Afonin is an expert in mobile forensics, data recovery and computer systems. He often attends large data security conferences, and writes several blogs for such resources as xaker.ru, Elcomsoft and Habr. In addition to his online activities, Oleg’s articles are also published in professional magazines. Also, Oleg Afonin is the co-author of a well-known book, Mobile Forensics - Advanced Investigative Strategies.

Questions and answers

How does RAID technology enhance the performance and data protection features of Thecus N4200PRO NAS?
RAID technology enhances the performance and data protection features of Thecus N4200PRO NAS in the following ways:
1. Increased performance: RAID technology allows multiple hard drives to work together as a single unit, distributing data across the drives. This enables parallel data access and improves read and write speeds, resulting in faster overall performance.
2. Data redundancy and protection: RAID provides data redundancy by creating copies of data across multiple drives. In the event of a drive failure, data can be reconstructed from the remaining drives, ensuring data integrity and preventing data loss. Thecus N4200PRO supports various RAID levels, including RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD, allowing users to choose the level of redundancy and protection they need.
3. Hot-swappable drives: Thecus N4200PRO NAS supports hot-swappable drive bays, which means that failed drives can be replaced without shutting down the system. This feature minimizes downtime and allows for easy maintenance and drive replacement.
4. RAID expansion and migration: Thecus N4200PRO NAS supports RAID expansion and migration, allowing users to add more drives or change RAID levels without losing data. This flexibility enables users to adapt their storage requirements over time without starting from scratch.
5. Automatic data rebuilding: In the event of a drive failure, Thecus N4200PRO automatically rebuilds the data onto a replacement drive, ensuring that the system remains operational and data remains protected.
Overall, RAID technology in Thecus N4200PRO NAS enhances performance by improving data access speeds and provides data protection through redundancy and automatic data rebuilding, ensuring that data remains safe and accessible even in the event of drive failures.
What are the different RAID levels supported by Thecus N4200PRO, and how do they affect the storage capacity and fault tolerance of the NAS?
The Thecus N4200PRO supports several RAID levels, including RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, and RAID 10.
1. RAID 0: This level does not provide any fault tolerance but offers increased performance and storage capacity. It combines multiple drives into a single volume, spreading data across all drives. The storage capacity is the sum of all drives, but if one drive fails, all data is lost.
2. RAID 1: This level provides mirroring, where data is duplicated on two drives. It offers fault tolerance as if one drive fails, the other drive still has a copy of all the data. However, storage capacity is reduced to half of the total drive capacity.
3. RAID 5: This level uses striping with parity. It distributes data and parity information across multiple drives, providing fault tolerance. If one drive fails, the data can be reconstructed using the parity information stored on the remaining drives. Storage capacity is reduced by the capacity of one drive.
4. RAID 6: Similar to RAID 5, RAID 6 also uses striping with double parity. It provides fault tolerance even if two drives fail simultaneously. Storage capacity is reduced by the capacity of two drives.
5. RAID 10: This level combines mirroring and striping. It requires at least four drives and provides fault tolerance and increased performance. Data is mirrored across two sets of striped drives. If one drive fails in each set, the data can still be accessed. Storage capacity is reduced to half of the total drive capacity.
In summary, RAID levels affect storage capacity and fault tolerance. Higher fault tolerance comes at the cost of reduced storage capacity. It is essential to choose the appropriate RAID level based on the desired balance between fault tolerance and storage capacity.
Can the Thecus N4200PRO NAS support hot-swapping and rebuilding of RAID arrays, and what are the advantages of these features in terms of maintaining uninterrupted data access and system reliability?
Yes, the Thecus N4200PRO NAS supports hot-swapping and rebuilding of RAID arrays.
Hot-swapping refers to the ability to replace a failed or degraded hard drive in a RAID array without shutting down the system or interrupting data access. With hot-swapping, you can simply remove the faulty drive and insert a new one while the NAS is still running. This feature is particularly useful in business environments where continuous data access is crucial and any downtime can result in significant losses.
Rebuilding of RAID arrays is the process of restoring the redundancy and data integrity of the array after a failed drive has been replaced. When a new drive is inserted, the NAS automatically starts the rebuilding process, which involves copying the data from the remaining drives onto the new drive to restore the redundancy. During the rebuilding process, the NAS remains operational, allowing users to access their data without interruption.
The advantages of these features in terms of maintaining uninterrupted data access and system reliability are:
1. Continuous Data Availability: Hot-swapping ensures that data remains accessible even when a drive fails. By replacing the faulty drive without shutting down the system, users can continue accessing their data without any interruption.
2. Reduced Downtime: Hot-swapping and automatic RAID rebuilding help to minimize downtime. The NAS can immediately start rebuilding the array with the new drive, ensuring that the data is protected and available as soon as possible.
3. Data Redundancy and Protection: RAID arrays provide data redundancy, which means that even if one drive fails, the data remains accessible from the remaining drives. Rebuilding the RAID array restores this redundancy and protects against data loss.
4. System Reliability: By automatically rebuilding the RAID array, the Thecus N4200PRO NAS ensures the system remains reliable and operational. It reduces the risk of data loss and maintains the integrity of the stored data.
Overall, hot-swapping and RAID rebuilding features in the Thecus N4200PRO NAS contribute to uninterrupted data access, reduced downtime, and enhanced system reliability, making it suitable for businesses and individuals who require high availability and data protection.